The Dudley Exchange
by Marshmellow16b
Summary: When Lindsey gets her chance to go back to England through an exchange program, she takes it. Only problem is, she's paired up with Dudley Dursley! And thats only the beginning of her problems
1. Chapter 1: The Exchange

Chapter 1- The Exchange   
  
After months and months of waiting, it was finally happening. I was participating in a student exchange program. I had always loved to travel, and after going to England two years before, I had wanted to go back. The boy that I was exchanging with was a complete stranger to me. I knew nothing about what he liked to do, where he went to school, or what he looked like. I was in the dark. All I knew was that his name was Dudley Dursley and that he lived in Surrey, England. I actually didn't really mind my lack of knowledge; all I needed to know was that he lived in England. That fact alone was enough for me.  
  
The way this program worked was simple. He came to America and spent two weeks at my house and then we flew to England and spent two weeks at his house. For the two weeks at my house, my mom and dad had gone full out. I, being out of school, had the joy of tidying up the house with them. We also made plans to show him the best of our humble town. The zoo, the museums, and anything else that screamed "AMERICA".  
  
The day finally arrived and we headed down to the airport. We got to the gate just in time to see the plane pull in.  
  
"Flight 504 direct from London pulling into gate 35" said a woman over the loudspeaker.   
  
"This is it," Said my dad.  
  
"Time to meet Dudley," said my mom, pulling out our handmade sign with his name on it. We watched as person after person walked out of the gate and passed us by. Then we heard a voice. A loud voice...  
  
"What do you think you're blooding doing?" the voice wailed, "You cut me off! I was CLEARLY walking here!" We saw a very round boy push an older man out of the way and come storming through the crowd. "WHAT? It's four o'clock, I'm missing my tele shows! Where the devil is my host family?" he stopped suddenly to look for us, causing the unexpecting people behind him to trip. Then of course he started yelling at them.  
  
"This is my exchange buddy?" I thought. He had finally seen us and came waddling over.  
  
"There you are! About bloody time. If you didn't see, I was just mauled by a group of you crazy Americans." I glanced at my parents... this was going to be a long two weeks.  
  
"Hi Dudley," I said, putting on my fake smile, "I'm Lindsey."  
  
"Well!" He exclaimed, as he looked me over, "I was expecting a bit more from you Americans, but I guess my hopes were too high."  
  
"Wha..." I had always been really quick to anger and was about to give him a piece of my mind when my mom interrupted me.   
  
"How was your flight Dudley?" She asked nicely  
  
"Horrible! American airlines are nothing compared to British ones." Every time he said American, he made it sound more and more evil.  
  
My mom sighed. "Let's go get Dudley's bags."   
  
As we walked, it was clear that my mom and I were both fuming mad. But my dad was still as pleasant as ever. He actually got in a conversation with him. I was amazed. We got to the bag area and found Dudley's bags. His two very big and extremely heavy bags.  
  
"Large heavy bags for a large heavy kid," I muttered to my mom under my breath. She stiffled a laugh. My dad meanwhile was trying to lift the bags, but it wasn't going too well.  
  
"Hey Dudley, could you help me with these bags?" He asked.  
  
"No, I don't carry my own bags," he said and walked off towards the vending machines. All our jaws dropped and we glared at him. My thoughts, and probably those of my parents, were focused entirely on seriously injuring this monster  
  
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The car ride home was horrible. There was not a radio station or CD that was good enough for him, so we had to sit in silence. When we arrived home, I showed Dudley to his room and ran to my room before he could begin complaining about it. In my room, I sat for a minute, trying to think of someway to vent my anger. Then the light bulb turned on and I picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?" said the voice on the other end.  
  
"Jen? It's me. Do you mind listening to my ranting about my exchange buddy?"  
  
"Um, sure, that's what best friends are for."  
  
"Oh my god! He's horrible! Absolutely 100% horrible! He complains and he insults us and..."  
  
"Woah, time out. You've only known him for a few hours, you shouldn't judge that quickly."  
  
"Oh yes I should, you haven't met the kid!"  
  
"Your temper is getting the best of you again."  
  
"You're probably right, but ARGH! He's terrible!"  
  
"Is he at least hot?" Only Jen.  
  
"If only! He looks like a freaking pig!"  
  
"Well think of the good side, you only have two weeks and then off to England!"  
  
"Yeah, but with him!"  
  
"Lins, breathe. You have been talking nonstop about going back for the longest time. Don't let one kid ruin it for you."  
  
"I guess I can try." Just then I heard Dudley begin to yell. "I have to go, the monster calls." Jen laughed.  
  
"See ya." I hung up the phone and walked to the family room where Dudley had moved. "What is your problem now?"  
  
"Problem? Try more than one!" He yelled while glaring at me, "The tele is tiny and my favorite show isn't on!"  
  
"Okay, first of all, the television isn't small at all. Second, you're in AMERICA, not England. We show AMERICAN shows. Third, this is your home for the next few days so stop complaining  
  
"Well if I had known that this was where I was going to be staying. Then I wouldn't have come," he muttered  
  
"What was that??" I yelled.  
  
"You heard me, you stupid..."  
  
CRACK! We both stopped yelling and stared at the television. There was smoke surrounding it and when it cleared, I saw that it had been cracked down the center of the screen. Dudley gasped, looked at me, then at the TV, and then ran away holding his bum.  
  
"Wonderful," I thought. "Mean AND insane."  
  
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The rest of the night passed rather calmly, probably due to the fact that Dudley had locked himself in his room and refused to come out. The following day he did come out of his room but didn't speak to me at all. He also would not be in a room alone with me. I was so confused by his actions until I had a revelation. Dudley was afraid of me. But why? The television incident was a bit odd, but it wasn't anything I did. So when the fourth day of the silent treatment came along, I decided to ask him about it.  
  
I found him in the kitchen, eating a sandwich (go figure).  
  
"Um, Dudley?" He jumped up with a shriek and ran to the far wall, dropping his sandwich to the floor. "Wow, calm down. What's up?"  
  
"Oh you don't think I know?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Um, know what?"  
  
"About YOUR people. And I know how you get joy from using your... powers on defenseless normal people like me."   
  
"What powers?"  
  
"The ones you learn at that school."  
  
"School?"  
  
"Stop playing dumb! I already know about it. My cousin goes to one of those freak schools." I sighed.  
  
"Dudley, I have no idea what you are talking about. I have no powers and the only school that I go to is a public normal high school."  
  
"Really?" He said, as he walked towards me with a suspicious glance.  
  
"Yeah, really really."  
  
"So you mean to tell me that I wasted four days being afraid of YOU?"  
  
"I guess so. Now what were you talking about? Some school and powers?"  
  
"That's none of your business."  
  
"Okay, can you tell me about your cousin?"  
  
"No! He's an embarrassment." He said, rolling his eyes, "But I suppose you'll have to meet him eventually." With that, Dudley left the room.  
  
"10 more days, 10 more days." I thought.  
  
(a/n)Okay people, in this story everything that is found in the Harry Potter books doesn't belong to me. It belongs to JK Rowling and whoever else. However I do own some things. These things include Lindsey, her family, her friends, and all other new characters. So don't steal my ideas or I'll beat u up. muhaha!!!! REVIEW!! 


	2. Chapter 2: Outings and Secrets

Chapter 2: Outings and Secrets   
  
After my little chat with Dudley, he had returned to his disrespectful, complaining self. On the sixth day, we decided to show him the American way. The national past time, a baseball game. Now if you ask me, a football game would have been more fun, but it wasn't the right season. So we packed up and heading to the field. Our town's team isn't exactly great, actually the are not even close to great. But just our luck, they happened to be playing last years (cue dramatic echo) WORLD world CHAMPS champs, so we could at least see some talent. When I told Dudley this, he didn't care...  
  
"Why should I care about any American sport team? It's not like I will ever see them again."  
  
"Well we have a nice stadium. They built it only two years ago," I said, trying to find something that might interest him.  
  
"So?"  
  
"Soooooo, it has.... new snack stands."  
  
"Well, maybe it won't be that bad." No surprise there. "Though I would prefer a wrestling match."  
  
"Oh, yes, the WWF is sooooo wonderful," I said sarcastically.  
  
"Let's just go get this over with."   
  
So we packed in the car and rode to the stadium. And Dudley complained. The ride was too long. The parking lot was too far from the entrance. The line was long. He couldn't see from out seats.  
  
But our seats were actually very good. Not necessarily close, but right in home-run range. We even had our glove ready in case any balls were sent our way. The game began and the difference in talent soon became brutally obvious. Our team struck out almost every time. And the other team kept hitting. There were even a few home runs, but not in our direction. At the seventh inning stretch, Dudley had had enough.  
  
"I'm getting food, maybe the game will be over by the time I get back. That way I don't have to sit through this crap anymore." And off he went. I had to admit that even I was getting bored. And our team was up to bat, so there wasn't much to watch. As I was scanning the crowd, I heard the commentator.  
  
"Oh my god, he hit it! He actually hit it! It's heading towards right field!" I looked up as he said "right field." The ball was heading in my general direction, but it looked like it was going to land a few rows in front of me.  
  
"Oh well," I thought, dropping my glove onto Dudley's empty seat, as it landed. But no one caught it so the ball had bounced. And it landed....  
  
"Right in that young lady's glove" screamed the announcer as I picked up the glove and ball. I saw myself on the big screen. I waved and held up the ball. I was never lucky. But who am I to argue?  
  
The game went back to the usual pattern and Dudley returned the next inning with a pile of food.  
  
"What's that?" he said looking at the ball  
  
"We hit a home run and I got the ball." I said, smiling  
  
"WHAT??" He screamed. I held up the ball. "You knew we'd score! And you made me leave!"  
  
"Dudley, that's crazy."  
  
"I deserve that ball, give it to me!"  
  
"NO, I caught it, not you."  
  
"Liar! You're just greedy! Give me the ball!" I noticed the other people staring at us, so I gave in.  
  
"Fine, take the stupid ball."  
  
"I will, thank you very much."  
  
I hated him. Why was I putting up with this? I racked my brain for way to get him back. Then it hit me... we were going to the zoo the next day. Oh the possibilities.  
  
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"Watch it, bud."  
  
"Who you calling bud, pal?"  
  
"Who you calling pal, friend?"  
  
"Who you calling friend, jackass?!"  
  
"Don't call me a jackass."  
  
"I just did call you a jackass."  
  
Our television had been fixed, after the little incident days before. Watching a movie was the perfect way to distract myself from Dudley. Or so I thought.  
  
"What dumb American show are you watching now?" he said plopping down in a chair  
  
"It's called 'Ocean's Eleven', its about some guys who steal from a casino, you might like it seeing as you like to steal stuff as well" he scowled.  
  
"How many more days do I have left of you?"  
  
"Five. Trust me, I'm counting down. Oh but then there is your house."  
  
"At least at home I can occupy myself with shows that aren't terrible and my computer"  
  
"And not hang around me? I never thought that you'd be that nice."  
  
"Bite me" he said, storming off.  
  
"Go change, we leave for the zoo in half an hour." I yelled after his retreating figure.  
  
I stopped the movie, figuring that I could watch it later and went to eat something. As I approached the kitchen, I heard voices.  
  
"It's almost as if she knows." I heard my mom say  
  
"Just because she likes it in England, doesn't mean she suspects anything," replied my dad.  
  
"Well we have to tell her eventually."  
  
"That's what we've been saying for 15 years."  
  
"But now I think she's old enough to handle it."  
  
"Fine, before she leaves, we'll tell her everything."  
  
At that point, I realized that it was time for me to intervene.  
  
"What haven't you told me?" I said, bursting into the kitchen. My parents looked up from the kitchen table stunned.  
  
"Lindsey honey, how much did you hear?" asked my dad  
  
"Enough to know that you are hiding something from me."  
  
They exchanged a glance and my mom began, "Well... you might want to sit down. It all began when you father and I went to England. We were there on business and instantly fell in love with the country. We decided that we wanted an English daughter. So we went to an orphanage and were talking to the woman in charge when a young lady walked in. She was holding a little girl in a pile of blankets."  
  
My dad continued, "The woman rushed over, oblivious to us, and explained to the woman that she had to give up her daughter. We looked over at the little girl. You Lindsey, and fell in love. It was your eyes. They sparkled, even then. We asked the lady if we could have you and it was taken care of on the spot. The mother's sad face lit up when she learned that we were Americans. She seemed to think that her daughter would be best in another country. So we brought you home.  
  
"We never found the time to tell you. You were always too young, or too busy, or too happy with life with us."  
  
"Listen, we never, ever meant to hurt you, we love you too much. You know that, right?"  
  
"So I'm adopted? And I'm English?"  
  
"Yes and yes, that's why we were worried about your obsession with England."  
  
"It scared us, thinking that you might find out. Do you hate us?" I took a deep breath.  
  
"No, but... I need time to think." I ran up into my room  
  
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I sat on my bed stunned. Adopted? I began to change for the zoo. Doing my hair I looked in the mirror. Black straight hair. Green eyes. Tall. My mom had green eyes, my dad black hair. But his was curly... and neither of them was tall at all. As I continued comparing, I noticed more differences, different nose, and different eye shape. The differences soon outnumbered the similarities. I sat down defeated. Why hadn't I realized it before? Tears started running down my face.  
  
I heard someone coming upstairs. Then there was a pounding on my door.  
  
"Get out of your room!" It was Dudley. I pulled myself together and opened the door.  
  
"Are we leaving?" I asked, without my usual sarcasm.  
  
"Yes, but if you want to stay here, I'd be more than happy to go without you."  
  
I didn't even bother insulting him back.   
  
The ride to the zoo was very quiet. My adopted parents... for lack of a better term, apparently thought that it would be best to leave me alone and rarely spoke to Dudley anyway. We got to the zoo and they let us out.  
  
"We have things to sort out at home. We'll be back in three hours" They explained, and rushed off.  
  
"They always leave me alone with you! It's not fair." He went on due to my silence. "What? No rude comeback? I guess I am just too witty for you."  
  
"Witty isn't the term I would use." I muttered, buying our tickets. We went in and followed the map. Past the elephants and kangaroos and monkeys and lions. When we got to the birds, I stopped.  
  
One of my earliest memories came back to me. I was young, three or so, and I was staring at the owls. My dad scooped me up and put me right up to the cage. I had a map rolled up and was sticking it in and out of the bars. Then an owl swooped over and snatched the paper. I watched the owl as it flew around the cage a few times. It then came right back to me and stuck the map through the bars. I grabbed it and said "Lookie! He give me present."  
  
The memory made me sad. I had been so happy with them. But it was all a lie. Still, I couldn't hate them. They had always been there for me. Nevertheless, the thought of having another set of parents out there was intriguing.   
  
"Could we move on from the owls?" said Dudley lazily. "I get enough of them at home." I looked at him in surprise. "I mean, um, never mind, no owls at my house... nothing out of the ordinary."  
  
"Riiiight." I said, "What's next? Oh yeah, reptile house."  
  
"Reptile house?" Dudley said.  
  
"Yeah, and it's just been expanded. We used to just have a small building with alligators and a boa in a pit far below, but now they have turtles and snakes and frogs and everything."  
  
"Snakes?" Dudley said nervously. "I hate snakes."  
  
"You're afraid of snakes?" This was great. Of course I was petrified of snakes as well and had never gone near one all my life, but I could suck it up for a day in order to scare Dudley. "That's too bad. We have a whole bunch of snakes. Really big ones too." The look on his face as we entered was priceless.  
  
"Wow Dudley! Listen to this." I read the sign aloud. "Boa constrictor. This boa escaped from a zoo in London four years ago and was sent here upon retrieval. Biggest snake in exhibit." Dudley turned white. "Wow, does he look familiar Dudley?"  
  
"No, never seen him." He said quickly and ran to the next room. I looked at the snake, shuddered and ran after Dudley. The next room had a giant stage, on which a zoologist stood with a snake in hand. There were a few people in the room who mingled about. Dudley was frozen against the back wall.  
  
"So who want's to hold 'er? Crikey, she's a beauty." Now was my chance.  
  
"I will!" I yelled, making my way to the stage.  
  
"Excellent, now be careful. If you upset 'er she'll bite."  
  
"Oh god" I though. I took the snake and whispered quietly as it wound its way up my arm. "Don't bite, don't bite, please don't bite." I took advantage of the situation and walked towards Dudley. The snake had reached my shoulder. Dudley kept walking away but I was gaining on him. Then, as I finally reached Dudley, the snake rose to my ear  
  
"If you insissssssst," I heard.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed and threw the snake.  
  
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" It had landed on Dudley, who flailed like a maniac trying to get if off. The room turned to panic as people ran out screaming and the zookeeper chased after Dudley. If I hadn't been so startled, I would have laughed. The zookeeper finally caught Dudley and removed the snake. Dudley then ran outside as fast as his chubby body would go. I apologized to the man, who was now quickly putting the snake back in its cage, and ran out after Dudley.  
  
"You threw it at me!" He cried as soon as he saw me  
  
"I was scared"  
  
"But I thought you weren't scared of snakes!"  
  
"Well I lied."  
  
"ARGH! Where are you parents?"  
  
"Over there." We got in the car and drove. When we pulled into the driveway, I couldn't resist any longer...  
  
"You know Dudley, you scream like a girl."  
  
"And you're a..."  
  
"Look we're home"  
  
(a/n) r&r!!!!! I love reviews!!! 


	3. Chapter 3: Truth and Letters

a/n) disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT LINDSEY, HER FAMILY, HER FRIENDS, AND MY OWN LITTLE PLOT TWISTS. There ya go, don't sue me.  
  
Chapter 3: Truth and Letters  
  
Harry sat in bed with his flashlight, quietly doing one of his History of Magic Essay. Once again Harry had managed to sneak his school things up to his room and hide them from the Dursley's. The particular essay was on the evolution of Wizard Transportation. He remembered something Hermione had said to him when they received the assignment.  
  
"He must be going easy on us, you know, with all that went on at the Triwizard Tournament," She had said, in her usual matter-of-fact tone, "I mean, I have a book entirely on the subject."  
  
"And about every other subject we learn about," muttered Ron. Harry had laughed half-heartedly, the memory of Cedric's body still fresh in his mind.   
  
Harry sighed. He could really use that book now. He set down his quill and decided to give up for the night. Silently hiding his things, he looked over at Hedwig. She lay fast asleep in her cage. The past month had been very tough on her. Harry had been receiving mail almost every day since his return and replying to those letters was wearing out his faithful owl. The letters had come from the usual crowd, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Hagrid, but people like Lupin, Wood, and even Neville found it necessary to check up on Harry. (Although Wood's letter was more of an invitation watch him play in a quidditch match, which Harry regretfully had to turn down.) They all were curious to see how Harry had been holding up.  
  
"Well," Harry thought with a smile, "I haven't received a letter today, but there are still 15 minutes left." Then, as if on cue, an owl appeared in the distance. "My friends never seem to fail me." It was Pig. The owl over shot the open window and crashed onto the floor. The letter fell off on the floor and Pig got up, unaffected, flew around the room a few times, and left. Harry picked up the letter and read it.  
  
Harry-  
  
Yes, of course Percy is still mad at Fred and George. The last feather just fell off yesterday. Even they didn't expect the new batch of Canary Cremes to work that well! Bill is home now, and has invaded my room. He was supposed to be in Percy's room, but it was too much trouble to clean out all the feathers. And speaking of Percy, he's been acting a bit odd lately. Always going on about the ministry and Fudge. Obnoxious really.  
  
I still can't believe that you got rid of Dudley for two weeks. I would kill for a little alone time. Ginny keeps asking about the girl who is coming. She is fascinated by the whole American thing. If you ask me, she's had too much of that Muggle Studies class. But Dad keeps encouraging her. Even he asks about her. And so do Fred and George, but I think they have different reasons, if you know what I mean...  
  
Dad talked to Dumbledore about having you visit, and he reckons it will work out, but I can't really give details here.   
  
Anyway, write back soon. I hope Hedwig is up to it, she seemed a bit tired last time I saw her. Guess that she has had a lot of work.  
  
-Ron  
  
Ron's letters always made Harry laugh and he was always eager to reply. Harry quickly pulled his quill back out and wrote.  
  
Ron-  
  
I can't believe that I missed Percy as a canary and I bet Bill's not all that bad. And being at home alone isn't all that great. The Dursley's are in terrible shape without their "precious angel" and have decided to take it out on me. But Dudley did call a few nights ago. He apparently doesn't like the girl, I think her name is Linda, or Lindy, or something to that effect. So I'll either get along with her very well or I will die of shock to see that Dudley judged a person correctly. I'll keep you updated.  
  
I've been in touch with Snuggles and he is also hushed up about me staying with him. What's going on? I'm feeling left out here in Muggle Land.  
  
You're right, Hedwig is a bit worn out, but the Dursleys have planned an excursion for London, so I'll try to sneak in Diagon Alley and get her some sort of potion. I'll talk to you soon.  
  
-Harry  
  
Harry picked up the letter and folded it, looking at Hedwig. She was asleep with her head under her wing. Feeling bad, he patted her awake. Looking up with sleepy eyes, Hedwig hooted softly, but allowed Harry to tie the letter to her leg.  
  
"Thanks." Whispered Harry, "I promise to let you sleep when you get back."  
  
As Hedwig flew off, Harry sighed. Hedwig wasn't the only one who needed sleep. So Harry got in bed and drifted away to the shores of sleep.  
  
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At dinner that night, Dudley insisted on retelling the entire zoo story. Lindsey's parents found the entire ordeal to be quite amusing, but Lindsey sat there in silence. She was too busy thinking about after dinner to care. Her parents had promised to talk to her that night and she was trying to organize all her thoughts into somewhat comprehensible questions. But by the time dinner was over, she hadn't actually accomplished anything. She had just thought of more things that she wanted to know. As her parents cleaned the kitchen, Lindsey helped Dudley find a suitable show to watch. He settled on some stupid game show that "reminded him of home."  
  
Making her way to the kitchen again, she saw that her parents had finished and were sitting around the table. Lindsey sat down in an empty chair.  
  
"Like I said before, I don't hate you. But I really want to know about my real mom." She said, before her parents could even open their mouths  
  
"Your real mom. Well we only met her once, so we don't know a lot," said her Father. "Her name was Katrina. She was British, from some small town north of London."  
  
"You look a lot like her, except taller. Same eyes and everything. She was very young when we met her and I'm sure that was why she was so eager to find you another home."  
  
"Was she nice?" Lindsey said quietly.  
  
"Well once again, we didn't really get to know her very well, it really was a spur of the moment thing. She was very secretive, refusing to tell us much about her."  
  
"I can still picture her in the orphanage. She had on pants that were clearly too big and a shirt with crazy symbols." said Lindsey's mom, fiddling with a napkin, "She kept looking around, as if she was expecting someone to burst in and stop us from taking you. And as soon as we were done signing the forms, she ran out. We followed her, but she was gone. We never saw or heard from her again."  
  
"You said that she was glad that you were Americans. Why?"  
  
"I really don't know," said Lindsey's dad, "She never explained. But it seemed as if she thought that you would be better off away from her. She made us promise not to let you find her. She has never sent anything to let us know where she was."  
  
Of course at that moment, Dudley chose to burst in the room.   
  
"Where who was?" he asked.  
  
"None of your business Dudley." I said.  
  
"Ohh," He exclaimed looking around. "I interrupted a family meeting."  
  
"Oh no," said Lindsey. "We were just finishing."  
  
"Good, what are we doing tonight?"  
  
"We are going downtown to do some shopping."  
  
"Shopping?!?" exclaimed Dudley. "I don't shop."  
  
"Well you might enjoy it. Plus I think tonight is the night that the flame eater performs."  
  
"What about all this American culture I'm supposed to get?"  
  
"Well this is American culture. Shopping, ball games, sitting at home watching reality TV. " Dudley didn't find that amusing. "Besides, we're going to museums tomorrow."  
  
Lindsey's mom decided to step in. "There is a National Historic Site down by where we are going, I'm sure that us adults could go with you and Lindsey could call a friend to shop with her."  
  
"Fine," said Dudley.  
  
"See? You're not always stuck with me," mocked Lindsey  
  
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"HARRY!" screamed Aunt Petunia. "Get down here now!"  
  
"What is it now?" Said Harry groggily. He hadn't slept a lot that night.  
  
"Today you have to pick up downstairs. Vernon and I are going to pick up some things for the next couple weeks. When we get back, this level better be spotless."  
  
"And no funny business," growled Uncle Vernon, "If I notice ANYTHING out of place, it's the closet for you."  
  
"Right," said Harry, looking a little bewildered. The Dursley's had never left Harry alone at home. But he wasn't going to argue. So when the car doors closed and the sound of tires faded away, Harry ran upstairs, ready to do his homework in the light of day.  
  
Then it hit him that they Dursley's would notice if nothing in the house were cleaned. Sighing, he trudged back down the stairs to the kitchen. But when he got there, there was someone sitting on the table...  
  
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"So you're adopted?" exclaimed Jen. Lindsey had just explained everything to her friend, who listened silently (aside for the occasional "look at that shirt!")  
  
"Yeah, I still can't believe that they didn't tell me. I mean, England! I'm ENGLISH!"  
  
"But if you have to be from another country, what a place to be from!" Lindsey looked at her questionably. "I mean really! ALL the gorgeous guys come from there."  
  
"Jen!" screamed Lindsey, "This is not the time to rant about guys. This is a serious situation!"  
  
"Right, sorry," said Jen sheepishly. "So what are you going to do?"  
  
"Well I'm not supposed to go find her. She made my parents promise."  
  
"Well that solves a lot, said Jen. "Oh look! The fire eating guy!"  
  
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"DOBBY!?!?" Yelled Harry. "What... wha...?"  
  
"Hello Harry Potter," said the house-elf, in his huge shorts, rainbow suspenders, and wild socks. "Dobby has come to visit you. Dobby had missed you so much."  
  
"Dobby, why aren't you at Hogwarts?"  
  
"It is Dobby's time off. And Dumbledore says to me 'Dobby, why don't you visit Harry Potter?' And I says of course, because Harry Potter is Dobby's most favorite person."  
  
"That's real nice Dobby, but I actually have work to do."  
  
"Oh Dobby can help! Dobby loves helping Harry Potter! What must Dobby do?"  
  
"It's really all right, I only have a few rooms to clean..." But Dobby was off, using his house-elf magic to clean anything and everything. Harry had barely emptied the dishwasher when Dobby was done with every room on the floor, besides the kitchen.  
  
"Dobby, that was amazing!" said Harry. Dobby blushed.  
  
"Dobby is very happy that Harry Potter is pleased."  
  
"Yeah, well you did almost everything."  
  
"When Dobby finishes, will Harry Potter show Dobby his sock collection?" He asked in an excited tone.  
  
Harry laughed, "Sure Dobby, whatever you want."  
  
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Jen had to be the most easily distracted person ever. While Lindsey was going over all the possible scenarios in her mind, Jen wandered over to a little shop.  
  
"So maybe she only said she didn't want me to find her back then because she wasn't ready but I'm sure now she'd love to meet me. Or would she? What do you think? Jen? Jen...."  
  
"Look!" said Jen, gazing longingly into a store window "Magic spell books!"  
  
"Honestly!" exclaimed Lindsey, walking over. "You know it's complete rubbish."  
  
"Can I buy it???"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Please!"  
  
"NO!"  
  
"I'm going in, come on!"  
  
"Oh my god." Five minutes later, they walked out, Jen with her magic book and Lindsey with some odd candy, Bernie Botts Every Flavor Beans ("Every flavor?" asked Jen. "I bet they don't REALLY have every flavor," said Lindsey, who only bought them to feed her jellybean obsession.)  
  
"Okay," Said Jen. "First spell... opening doors."  
  
"Oh I know! I know! Open Sesame!" said Lindsey sarcastically.  
  
"Ha ha ha." Said Jen. "Actually it's Aloha-More-Aye."  
  
"I dare you to try that one"  
  
"Just find a door my friend, find a door!"  
  
"I'll remember that... want a jelly-bean?"  
  
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(a/n) okay, there ya go, PLEEEASE review. and if you already have, I love you! 


	4. Chapter 4: Goodbyes and Teachers Meeting

(a/n) same old copyright stuff, thanks to the reviewers.  
  
Chapter 4: Goodbyes and Teacher's Meeting  
  
"Two more days, two more days!" Lindsey chanted, while shifting through her closet. An open suitcase was lying on her bed and clothes were all over the room. She grabbed a box from the top part of her closet and attempted to pull it out. Of course, half the shelf came with it. Something landed on her head, and removing it, she realized that it was her baby blanket. It had once been a soft, green, cozy blanket, but it was now very worn out, and very not green (more of a pale yellow to be truthful). It had been sitting her closet since about 5th grade, when it had been officially retired. She looked at it now and something caught her eye. A little picture in the corner.  
  
"When did this get here?" she said, holding it up for a closer view. It was a little ball of some sort, with wings sticking out the sides. "Wait a minute..." She ran out of her room and down the stairs. "MOM!"  
  
"What? What?" said her mom, peeking her head into the hallway.  
  
"My baby blanket, was that given to you by my real mom?"  
  
"Well, actually I think it was. Yes, now I remember, when she brought you in, you were wrapped up in it. You would even begin to cry if we tried to take you away from it during the first few weeks."  
  
"So do you know what the little symbol means?"  
  
"What symbol? And why were you going through your closet? You have all of tomorrow to pack."  
  
"Well I'm anxious." Just at that moment Dudley returned with Lindsey's dad.  
  
"Well there you are!" said Lindsey's mom.  
  
"The museum was bloody brilliant," said Dudley, the first positive thing he had said all trip.  
  
"Yeah, I don't know why you girls decided to go home early."  
  
"I think the first three museums were more than enough for me," said Lindsey smiling.  
  
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"Well well." Said Uncle Vernon, opening the door to the house. "Let's see what you haven't cleaned toda...." He stopped dead in his tracks. Looking around at the spotless rooms, his face turned purple in anger. Petunia followed with a look of disappointment.  
  
"But how?" stammered Petunia, searching for something that she could criticize him for. Of course she found nothing; house-elves are amazing cleaners if they choose to be.  
  
"What? I did what you asked me to do," said Harry with a smile. He turned away from his two baffled, angry relatives and went upstairs.  
  
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Lindsey had been trying to figure out what the symbol meant for the past hour and it was almost time to go to bed. Finally she gave up and called Jen.  
  
"Yeah, it's weird, it's like a ball with wings."  
  
"Ball with wings? That's oddly familiar."  
  
"Oh! Where have you seen one?"  
  
"In my book of magic."   
  
"Jen, get over the damn magic book!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"The book is a joke! Look at the publisher. It's certainly not going to be a reliable source."  
  
"Very funny. Actually it's the Muggle Communication Department."  
  
"Muggle? Jen, they're using made up words, isn't that a hint?"  
  
"Hey, you wanted to know if I'd seen the picture and I had, so chill. If I want to delve into the mysteries of the world, it's my choice."  
  
"All right all right, I'll chill. But just promise not to join some weird cult. All that stuff is creepy. So what do you know about the winged ball?"  
  
"Well it's called a snitch."  
  
"Wow, more made-up words."  
  
"Oh this book has millions"  
  
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Harry got upstairs just in time to see Hedwig swoop into her cage and go to sleep. He looked around and found the letter sitting on top of... another letter. Assuming that the letter on top was Ron's, Harry picked it up.  
  
Dear Harry,  
  
Wow, does Hedwig ever look tired! She barely made it into the house before collapsing. Mum is giving her some food and potion while I write, but she needs some heavy-duty rest.  
  
I can't wait to see you. Fred and George are excited too. They promised to have a product to test on you. Hopefully they were joking. But you never know with those two. I imagine that you'll like the girl, mainly because I can't imagine Dudley being correct. Either way, write back, but not until Hedwig is up to it.  
  
-Ron  
  
It was useless writing back now, because as Ron said, Hedwig would refuse. So Harry picked up the next letter. There was a letter and a newspaper clipping inside. Harry took out the letter first. It was very short  
  
Harry-  
  
Thought you should see this. I'll give you more details when I see you.  
  
-Sirius  
  
Harry picked up the news clipping. It was dated two days previous.  
  
"Police found the body of 68 year-old Harriet Jones last night in her London home. Ministry officials are denying reports that this was caused by the Avada Kedavra curse.   
  
'We don't currently have a strong lead, but we will be sure to punish the criminal when we catch them,' said Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge.  
  
Jones, a retired auror, was best known for her capture of three of he-who-must-not-be-named's henchmen.'  
  
Harry was puzzled. What did her death have to do with him? Then it hit him. Voldemort had struck again. And Fudge was trying to cover it up. It didn't surprise Harry at all.   
  
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"So this is it?" said Jen, "Time for you to go?"   
  
Lindsey, Jen, Dudley, and her parents were at the airport. The announcement had been made for Lindsey and Dudley's flight to begin boarding and it was time for good-byes.  
  
"Yeah," said Lindsey, "But it's only two weeks. I'll be back before you know it. Plus I'll email you whenever I can."  
  
"All right. Don't forget to take pictures. And don't have too much fun without me." She looked close to tears. "Well, I'll miss you."  
  
"I'll miss you too." They hugged and Lindsey moved to her parents.  
  
"Are you sure you have everything?" asked her dad.  
  
"Yes, I'm all set to go."  
  
"And the address of the... you know?" asked her mom.  
  
"Yes Mom, in my pocket." Lindsey smiled. "I'll be fine."  
  
"We know," said her dad, hugging her. "We know."  
  
"You really have grown up," said her mom, looking at her. "Good luck." After a quick last hug, Lindsey ran up to Dudley, who was saving their spot in the line.  
  
"About bloody time," he said. "But seriously though, that was very touching." But he sure didn't say it seriously. They checked their tickets, and walked into the tunnel to the plane. Lindsey turned and waved at her parents and friend one last time.  
  
"At least I'll see them in two weeks," she thought.  
  
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"Why did Dumbledore bring us here?" asked Flitwick. "We are supposed to be on break."  
  
"He better have a good reason," said Sprout. "I was having a very nice trip in Mexico when I got the owl, and I would like to get back as soon as possible."  
  
"My inner eye tells me that it is a very important issue that brings us together," said Trelawney dramatically.  
  
"Honestly, I could have told you that," said McGonagall. "Where is he?" The Hogwarts teachers had been gathered around a single table in the great hall. Each had received an urgent owl from Dumbledore telling them to hurry to the castle. Many of them we very upset, having been taken away from their summer vacations.  
  
"Wonderful, you're here," said Dumbledore, finally walking into the hall. "I'm very sorry to take you all from your vacations, but it is a matter of utmost importance." Trelawney gave the I-told-you-so glance at McGonagall, who rolled her eyes. "As you all are aware by now, Harriet Jones was killed four days ago. An unforgivable curse."  
  
"Terrible shame," said Vector. "She was one of the top aurors in her day."  
  
"Yes," said Dumbledore. "She became very unpopular among Voldemort's crowd." The teachers all flinched. "Wait a moment. Are we all here?"  
  
"No, I don't believe so."  
  
"Hagrid and Severus," said McGonagall observantly.   
  
"Ahh yes, they are off doing things for me, so I guess we do have everyone. Thank you Minerva," said Dumbledore.   
  
"Please continue Albus," said Sprout, clearly impatient to get back to the beach.  
  
"Yes. As you must have read, Fudge has refused to name suspects, but we all know that there is no question to who it must be."  
  
"So it's true, he has begun his work again?" said Vector in a distressed tone.  
  
"Yes, what I shared with the school at the end of term was correct. But we are doing all that we can to counter him. However there is still work to be done. We need to secure the castle even more tightly, which you all will be helping me with. Then there is the matter of Katrina Langley."  
  
"Katrina Langley? What does she have to do with anything?" asked McGonagall.  
  
"Ahh yes, I have seen a shadow of death hanging around her," said Trelawney.  
  
"Yes Sibyll," said Dumbledore, bowing his head. "She has passed away. Most unfortunate."  
  
"Was she that Slytherin girl a few years below me?" asked Hooch.  
  
"Yes, I remember her well," said McGonagall. "Very good at transfiguration. I believe she became an Animagus after graduation."  
  
"That's right, a falcon. An odd choice for a Slytherin," explained Dumbledore.  
  
"Well she never really played the part of a Slytherin. I always thought that she was sorted wrong; she seemed more like a Ravenclaw."  
  
"Well remember, it's our choices that chose which house we go to. And her mother had been in Slytherin, so I think she wanted to carry on the family tradition," said Dumbledore thoughtfully.  
  
"Well she wasn't even good friends with any other Slytherins. The only person I remember her being intimate with was Lily Evans," said McGonagall.  
  
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Dudley and Lindsey walked aboard the plane and searched for their seats. They found them in the middle of the plane, over the wing.  
  
"I want the window seat," whined Dudley.  
  
"No!" Said Lindsey, "I have the window seat, see it says right there on my ticket."  
  
"Well I need a window seat or I get air sick!"  
  
"That's such a lie!"  
  
"It is not!"  
  
"Fine, fine. Ro sham bo."  
  
"What???"  
  
"Ro sham bo! You know, rock paper scissors?"  
  
"Well why don't you call it that?"  
  
"Best out of three. Ready..." Lindsey won two in a row. "HA! I get the window seat."  
  
"NO! You are such a filthy cheating b-"  
  
"Please take you seats, we'll be departing in a minute," said the flight attendant. Lindsey sat in the window seat and glared up at Dudley as if daring him to try and take it. Which he didn't.  
  
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Harry woke up the next morning to Uncle Vernon pounding on his door. "Wake up boy!" He cried. "You have more cleaning to do."  
  
Harry sat up. He glanced at Hedwig's empty cage. She had left that night to deliver the letter to Ron, after finally catching up on sleep. The letter was short and discussed the news article. The fact that Voldemort was back had not really sunk in until that article. Someone was dead. And she wouldn't be the last. Harry got up, changed, and went down to the kitchen. It was a mess. Apparently Aunt Petunia was making a meal that required every dish in the house and all the food as well.   
  
"Listen closely. You have to clean the guest bedroom, the upstairs bathroom, and the hallway. Then come down here and clean the kitchen," said Petunia. "And hurry, we need to leave at noon to pick up Dudley."  
  
"Didn't I clean the kitchen yesterday?"   
  
"Don't be smart! Get to work!" she ordered.  
  
Harry walked back upstairs. Taking out the vacuum, he moved into the guest bedroom, which was usually reserved for Marge. He sighed and got to work.  
  
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"Lily Evans?" exclaimed Sprout.  
  
"Yes, surprising, seeing as Lily's other friends were on such bad terms with the Slytherins. The pair even worked together after Hogwarts," explained McGonagall  
  
"May I continue?" asked Dumbledore, while conjuring up drinks for the table. All the teachers nodded. "Well I was able to talk to her at St. Mungo's before she passed on. Turns out that there is much that we didn't know about her."  
  
"Her mother, Olivia, brought up her daughter as a single parent, rarely speaking of her true father. Katrina only knew him as the bad man. Olivia had fallen in love with him at school, but after that, he ran off and was assumed dead. When he came out of the shadows, he was greatly changed. Olivia barely recognized Tom Riddle in his new, evil form. But she did recognize him, and protected her daughter from him. She told Katrina about her father when she entered Hogwarts, but made her swear never to tell anyone. And no one ever found out. All assumed that Tom was the last heir of Slytherin, even I was fooled. One day, when Katrina was in her 7th year, Voldemort came to Olivia's house, demanding to see his daughter. When she refused, Olivia was killed. Katrina was devastated, and swore to end the decent of Slytherin."  
  
"But of course she fell in love right after Hogwarts. She was married right away. And don't forget that her and Lily remained friends. When she and Lily both became pregnant, she was overjoyed for her friend, but horrified for herself. And she was right to be afraid, because her father, Voldemort, was searching for her. He was at the height of his power at the time and when he finally did discover her, it was terrible. He killed her husband, but let Katrina and the newborn child go. He wanted to have descendants to carry on his deeds should he fall. Katrina was at a lost, so she did the only thing she could think of, she went to Lily. Lily and James convinced her that she had to give up the child. So the little girl was brought to a muggle orphanage. But Voldemort had a spy who told him of this. When he went to retrieve the child, and found that she had been taken already, he was outraged. He found his daughter again and demanded to know the location of his grand daughter. When she refused, he gave her a truth potion, which caused her to reveal that Lily and James were behind it. So he vowed revenge on the Potters for losing him his blood relation and the rest is history. Katrina went into a complete isolation afterwards. She had killed her friends and husband and lost her precious daughter."  
  
"So when she was informed that he had come back and that she wasn't going to make it much longer, she called for me, so that I could protect her daughter if it was needed. So that is what me must do, find her daughter." All the teachers stood open mouthed and unable to talk.  
  
"But Albus, how did no one ever find out?" Asked McGonagall, regaining her voice.  
  
"A relation to someone like that is not something that one is proud of. And Katrina and Olivia were both very clever, so I'm sure they found ways."  
  
"But where do we find this girl?" asked Sprout.  
  
"I don't know. She isn't listed under any magic directories. It's as if she was erased."  
  
"Do we even know her name?"  
  
"First only," replied Dumbledore. "Lindsey."  
  
"This will be tough," said McGonagall  
  
"But we have to try." 


	5. Chapter 5: England, Finally

Chapter 5: England, Finally  
  
"Harry, move! We're late!" screamed Petunia.  
  
"And whose fault is that?" thought Harry. Petunia had insisted that she inspect the house one last time before they left for the airport, but then decided that the guest bedroom needed to be vacuumed once more. So it had been done as quick as possible, but they were still 15 minutes behind schedule.  
  
Harry ran down the stairs and flew out of the front door to the driveway, where Uncle Vernon was waiting impatiently in the car.  
  
"Where the devil were you?" screamed Vernon.  
  
"Last minute cleaning," replied Harry.  
  
"A likely excuse," said Vernon. Petunia had just ran out of the house and hopped in the front seat.  
  
"Let's move dear, we're late," she said. They were leaving Harry with Mrs. Figg while they picked up Dudley, so they dropped him off and sped away.  
  
----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"We will be landing momentarily, thank you for flying English Air. We hope you'll fly with us again," said the flight attendant over the intercom.   
  
Lindsey was in her glory, as she looked out over the English countryside below her. It was just as great as she remembered. And the thought of possibly finding her real mom was lurking in her head the entire time. Dudley was asleep next to her. She saw the control tower of the airport and decided to wake him up.  
  
"Dudley!" She said loudly, smacking him in the arm. He grunted and turned to face the other way. "Fine, have it your way." And she began to shake him violently.  
  
"What? What? I'm up!" he cried  
  
"We're about to land, better pack up your things."  
  
"I would have woken myself up, you didn't have to give me whiplash."  
  
"Oh, I'm oh-so-very sorry."  
  
"I cannot wait to see my parents and get out of your company."  
  
"Yeah, I bet. But you might want to wipe the drool away from your chin before we go see them." He glared at her and wiped it away. Then he subtly made a very rude gesture, which Lindsey was getting quite used to.  
  
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Harry wasn't exactly thrilled to be staying at Mrs. Figg's house, seeing as the last time he went, she made him organize her cat photo albums. That was last summer though, and he hoped that she had something a little more interesting this time. He walked up to the front door and rang the bell. He heard a small yell from inside, and then a lot of moving around. When Mrs. Figg finally got to the door a minute or so later, she looked very disheveled.  
  
"Harry, I completely forgot about you staying here today," she said nervously. Harry just stood there. "Well let's get you inside."  
  
Harry walked in and looked around. The usually neat house was very messy. Books were everywhere and the tabby cat that was usually sitting on the recliner was nowhere to be seen.  
  
"I know it's a bit messy, but I've been... well busy." She wandered over to the table with the books and closed them all, muttering some nonsense that Harry couldn't make out.  
  
"Um, do you mind if I get a glass of water?" asked Harry.  
  
"Oh, of course, cups are in the top left cabinet," she replied. Harry walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass out of the cabinet  
  
"So Mrs. Figg," he began, trying to be nice. "How have you been?"  
  
"Well not so well, it's been a hard time for me, with all my..." She stopped suddenly, with a horrified look to a part of the house Harry couldn't see.  
  
"Arabella, did you find that spell? I tried the books at my house, but it wasn't there." Harry nearly dropped his water. He knew that voice. He quickly ran back to where Mrs. Figg was.  
  
"Lupin?" He cried.  
  
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Dudley and Lindsey were making their way off the ramp and into the airport. Lindsey was following Dudley silently, praying that the people she was about to meet would be friendlier than their son.  
  
"Dudleykins!!!"  
  
Lindsey looked over in the direction of the shout, eyeing a thin woman with an unusually long neck. This must be his mom. Who else would use the term Dudleykins? Dudley rushed over to his mother and gave her a big hug. Then he hugged another man, a large man who looked very similar to his son. Lindsey assumed that this was his dad. She walked over.  
  
"Mrs. Dursley?" she asked politely. Petunia nodded. "I'm Lindsey, it's a pleasure."  
  
"Very nice to meet you," she said, faking a smile, which Lindsey chose to ignore  
  
"Well," said Vernon, "Lets get your things and be off home."   
  
They wandered to the luggage pick-up area, got their things, and made it back to the car. Lindsey quickly found herself liking Mrs. Dursley, and Mrs. Dursley, despite her son's opinion, liked Lindsey as well. They both shared a love of gossip and they were able to talk all the way home about the personal lives of the rich and famous. Vernon and Dudley both remained silent, both because they disliked Lindsey. Vernon disliked her because of a little conversation they had partway through the ride.  
  
"So I hear that Dudley's cousin also lives with you," said Lindsey, "Where is he?"  
  
"Not here," snapped Vernon. This was a touchy subject for him. "He is a very disagreeable boy."  
  
"Oh, well I still would like to meet him. Does he go to school with Dudley?"  
  
"No, he attends St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Boys." That shut Lindsey up on that subject. What did the kid do to be sent to a criminal school? She didn't want to know.  
  
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"What is going on?" Asked Harry, looking between Lupin and Mrs. Figg suspiciously. They looked at each other and Arabella nodded with a sigh.  
  
"Well Harry," Began Lupin, "This is Arabella Figg. She was recruited by Dumbledore 13 years ago to keep an eye on you. For your own safety you know."  
  
"Wait," said Harry, "You were a witch the entire time? How did I never find out?"  
  
"Squib dear. I can't do a bit of magic. And you would have figured it out if you had been a bit more observant. When you just came in, I had The Huge Book of Hexes wide open on my coffee table. Even I thought that you'd catch on to that one," she said.  
  
"Now Harry, we have work to do, so you can help or you can... I don't know, watch... that," said Lupin, with a confused look at the television.  
  
"I think I'd rather help. What do I need to do?" Arabella smiled. Lupin also looked pleased.  
  
"I'll be back," said Arabella and she went upstairs. Harry and Lupin sat around the kitchen table.  
  
"So how is Sirius?" asked Harry.  
  
"He is, well, not bad considering. I dare say that he is quite anxious to have you visit." Harry smiled as the memory of the letter came back. Lupin noticed this smile. "Yes, I'm sure that Dumbledore will let you come stay with us before long."  
  
"Well at least I'll have something to look forward to," said Harry, a bit upset that he wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Then they heard a huge crash and spun around to see that Arabella had dropped a large pile of books and they were all now falling down the stairs. "What are all those for?"  
  
"We have to go through them," said Arabella, sighing at the task.  
  
"We need to find a spell. It's called the Locatoris Spell. It helps find any person to the exact square mile," explained Lupin.  
  
"Who are we looking for?" Asked Harry.  
  
"It's not really important," said Arabella.  
  
"Wait, so if you're a squib, how come you have so many wizarding books?"  
  
"Well I consider my home the library of the Order." Lupin coughed and gave Arabella a not-so-subtle glare.   
  
"The Order?"   
  
"No matter, said Lupin, levitating a book and dropping it in front of Harry. "Get to work."   
  
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"Is this your house?" asked Lindsey, looking out the window of the car. They were pulling into a driveway.  
  
"No." Said Petunia. "We need to pick up Dudder's cousin." Lindsey sat back in her seat. The kid attends a frickin' school for criminals. As Vernon strode up to the front door, Lindsey couldn't help but picture the kid she was about to meet. Tall, strong, tattoos, and assorted pierced body parts. But when the kid finally walked outside, she learned that she was totally wrong. He wasn't a big beefy kid. He was tall, yes, but skinny as anything. Lindsey noticed that his clothes were way too big and that he had his glasses taped. His hair was in a messy state and Lindsey, despite thinking that he was a criminal, felt a little guilty.  
  
"Don't feel guilty!" She thought. "He's goes to a school for criminals! Be afraid of him."  
  
Vernon and the cousin got to the car and piled in. Lindsey was unlucky enough to be sitting in the middle, and Dudley's excessive fat made it impossible for her to put distance between herself and the boy. They sat in uncomfortable silence while Vernon backed out. Then Petunia turned around and addressed him.  
  
"You didn't cause Mrs. Figg and trouble, did you?"  
  
"No, I never do." Petunia glared at him.  
  
"Um, I don't mean to be, um, disrespectful or anything," I began, turning to the cousin, trying to be polite. "But, I, um, well, I never got your name."  
  
"Harry," he said shortly. "And you are the American exchange student, right?"  
  
"Yeah, Lindsey." He looked straight me in the eye and then quickly back out the window. His eyes were just like mine, bright green. And his hair was the same color as mine... we could have passed for twins.   
  
The rest of the trip was silent, of course. It was maybe two minutes when we turned onto a little street, Privet Drive, according to the sign. Lindsey smiled as they drove down the street. Looking out the window on Harry's side, she saw two little girls playing hopscotch on the sidewalk and a boy of about 10 kicking around a soccer ball. It was all so... perfect, thought Lindsey with a smile, despite the fact that she was sitting between a convict and a fat jerk. Either way, she was there.  
  
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"Albus we found it." Lupin had just apparated to the Order headquarters where Dumbledore was reading the latest issue of the Daily Prophet and munching on some candy.   
  
"Wonderful, I knew Arabella's library would be useful," said Dumbledore, setting the paper down and popping a chocolate frog in his mouth.  
  
"Of course, it always is. Harry found it you know." Dumbledore spit out the frog.  
  
"Harry knows about Arabella?"  
  
"Yes Albus. It was a complete accident, entirely my fault." He explained to him the events of the afternoon. "I know that this isn't exactly how we planned it, but we had to let him know eventually."  
  
"Yes, that's true," said Dumbledore in a sad manner.  
  
"Oh don't worry, He can handle it."  
  
"Oh I know, but that's not it. Its just that, well I got myself again." He said with a look at his Chocolate Frog card.  
  
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"And this is your room," said Dudley, not in the most positive manner, seeing as he had just shown her around the entire house. Lindsey found the place very nice. Everything was clean and welcoming. "Your bags are downstairs, bring them up and unpack or something."  
  
"Can you help me with them?"  
  
"No," he said, walking out  
  
"Denied," thought Lindsey, jumping onto the bed. She looked around the room that would be her home for the next two weeks. "Not too shabby," she said aloud.   
  
She got up and made her way down the stairs. She walked to the kitchen where her bags sat it a neat pile. She lifted them all up with difficulty and slowly made her way to the stairs.  
  
At the stairs, she was faced with the task of getting the bags upstairs. She looked around to find help, but there was no one. She could hear the television on in the other room and guessed that none of the Dursley's would help her. So she maneuvered her way up, one stair at a time. About 10 minutes later, when she was halfway up, she heard laughing. She looked up and there was Harry at the top of the stairs.  
  
"This isn't funny," Lindsey yelled. Harry stopped laughing right away.   
  
"Oh god," thought Lindsey, "I made him mad, he's going to hurt me now."  
  
"Sorry," he said, trying to keep a straight face, "but it really is." He burst out laughing again. Lindsey smiled cautiously. "Do you want me to help you?" he asked between laughs.  
  
"Um, no, that's all right, I don't want to trouble you," said Lindsey weakly. He gave her an odd look, walked down the stairs, and grabbed two bags.  
  
"You're welcome," he said, turning and walking back up the stairs. Lindsey followed him up and into her room. Dropping the bags, he turned around to her.   
  
"So why do you look like you would rather hug Dudley than talk to me?" Lindsey remained silent. "Seriously, what did they tell you about me that's so bad?" Lindsey fidgeted nervously. "Oh no," he said, realizing what they did, "Was it St. Brutus's?"  
  
"Um, maybe," said Lindsey, really unsure of what was going on.  
  
"And you believed them! That's totally a lie, they made that one up a few years ago."  
  
"So where do you go to school?" asked Lindsey skeptically. It was Harry's turn to look nervous.  
  
"Um, well..." He racked his brain for ideas, "Public school. They're embarrassed that I, um, didn't get into Smeltings, Dudley's school."  
  
"Really? I didn't think that you looked like a criminal," said Lindsey, a lot happier. "So what do you think of Dudley?" Harry rolled his eyes. "Looks like we'll get along fine."  
  
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(a/n) so I realize that this is where I start thanking you all individually, so here I go.  
  
Slytherin Angel, Calypzo, Kris, Artemis fire mage of Golin, Casvv, Jagged Edge, Agawa Adiddle, Elenora, Rose, Eliza, Peaceful Nightmares, Danielle Radcliffe, HP Mystery, Crazyme89, Nalli, Queenie, Suckerplucker, and Lioness Silence.  
  
I'd give u all hugs, but I don't know where to find you (which I guess is a smart move on your parts). 


	6. Chapter 6: That Crazy Cousin

Chapter 6: That crazy cousin  
  
After finally putting away all her clothes, Lindsey was at a loss for what to do. It would be easy enough to just go downstairs and talk to Petunia, but that would involve Dudley and his father, who Lindsey sure didn't want to be around. So she decided to go visit Harry's room (the one place Dudley didn't show her in the tour). She walked down the hallway and to the door. It was slightly open and she peeked in. Harry sat on his bed, hunched over a piece of paper, writing quickly with a quill. Wait a minute... a quill???  
  
Lindsey coughed to get Harry's attention and he spun around, looking back in fear.  
  
"Oh, it's only you," he said, slipping the paper under his pillow. "Did you finish unpacking?"  
  
"Yeah, just now. What were you writing?"  
  
"Um, a letter to a friend," he said. Lindsey saw him glance nervously to the other side of the room. Lindsey followed his eyes. There sitting in the corner was a cage. A cage with an owl in it.  
  
"OH MY GOD!" Lindsey said. "You have an owl!!!" Harry mumbled something but Lindsey kept going. "Isn't that illegal or something? And do the Dursleys know?"  
  
"Woah, calm down. It's not illegal and how could they not know about her?"  
  
"It's a her? What's her name?"  
  
"Hedwig." Lindsey snorted. "What???"  
  
"Nooothing."  
  
"It's a good name!"  
  
"Yeah, yeah. But wasn't there a movie with a cross-dresser named Hedwig?"  
  
"That's not who she's named after!"  
  
"Sure it's not. So who were you writing to?"  
  
"My friend Ron."  
  
"And why were you using a quill? Aren't pens easier?"  
  
"If you have a problem with everything here, why don't you leave?"  
  
"Woah, your turn to chill. It was a joke."  
  
"Sorry," Said Harry, walking over to the owl, "It's just been a very long summer."  
  
"Want to tell me about it?"  
  
"You wouldn't understand."  
  
"Probably not, but if it makes you feel better, my summer has kind of sucked too."  
  
"Want to tell me about it?"  
  
"You wouldn't understand either."  
  
"Try me."  
  
"I found out that I am adopted and English."  
  
"Oh I know the feeling."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I am sort of adopted and a Wiz..." A look of horror spread across his face. Lindsey looked at him questioningly "Nevermind," he said quickly.  
  
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"DAMN SPELL!" cried Sirius, "It isn't working!"  
  
"Sirius, calm down, maybe we're saying it wrong," said Lupin. The two sat around a table, on which there was a large map of Southern England. If done correctly, the map was supposed to glow blue over the region with the person they were looking for. However there was not just one region glowing blue, there were quite a few.   
  
"This would be SO much easier if we knew her last name! But no, instead we have close to nothing."  
  
"Sirius, look! It's glowing over Surrey!"  
  
"But that's where Harry lives. We'd know if there was a witch there, wouldn't we?...Remus? Wouldn't we?"  
  
"Well I don't know, it's not as if we have the same resources that the Ministry has in detecting magic."  
  
"My dear friends, what is the trouble?" asked Dumbledore, having just apparated.  
  
"The spell isn't working," said Sirius.  
  
He held his wand over the large map. "LOCATORI," he said, and the map glowed blue all over, then slowly the blue faded away until around 50 points remained glowing.  
  
"See?" said Sirius, "This doesn't help at all!"  
  
"Are you suggesting that I am unable to do this spell?" said Dumbledore, looking over at Sirius with a glare.  
  
"Well maybe you, well I, um," Sirius muttered. Dumbledore dropped the glare and smiled.  
  
"One of the blue points is near Harry and Arabella. Maybe we should talk to her, just in case," said Lupin. Five minutes later, Lupin's head was sitting in Arabella's fireplace.  
  
"So Arabella, you're sure that there are no other wizard families in your area, right?"  
  
"I don't think so! But I wouldn't really know."  
  
"Can you think of any girls in the area who fit the description?"  
  
"No Remus, there is no one. They are all your standard blonde rich girls."  
  
"Would you at least ask Harry for us?"  
  
"Fine, I'll go over there now."  
  
"Thanks Arabella."  
  
"Anytime."  
  
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The doorbell rang at the Dursley household. Petunia yelled at Harry to answer it. He was busy doing dishes, so Lindsey went. Pulling open the door, she saw an old lady.  
  
"Can I help you?" asked Lindsey. The lady looked at her.  
  
"Do you live here?" asked Arabella. She was very confused, because the girl in the door perfectly matched the description of the person she was supposed to be looking for.  
  
"Um, not technically. I'm visiting." Petunia appeared behind Lindsey.  
  
"Well hello Mrs. Figg. Can I help you?"  
  
"Yes, I was wondering if I could speak to Harry."  
  
"What did he do?"  
  
"Oh, well nothing, he just wanted to borrow something of mine and I, well I thought I'd bring it to him." Arabella said. Petunia nodded and called him. Arabella took one last look at the girl before Lindsey went upstairs. Harry walked to the door, looking confused.  
  
"Outside?" asked Harry.  
  
"That'd be best." Said Arabella. They went out and shut the door. "Harry who is that girl?"  
  
"Exchange student."  
  
"From where?"  
  
"America"  
  
"Age?"  
  
"Same as me."  
  
"Parents?"  
  
"I don't know much, apparently she is adopted."  
  
"Wonderful Harry. Dumbledore will be quite happy to hear it."  
  
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Lindsey sat in her room quietly singing along with the radio. She had her laptop open and was writing an email to Jen.  
  
To: JenJen3212aol.com From: LinsO16aol.com  
  
Jen!!!  
  
Okay, so I got here fine. It was actually a pretty fun flight, keeping in mind that Dudley was there. And his family is generally nice. His mom is really into gossip... kind of like you. And his cousin is cool. But his dad is a bit scary. But hey, I'm in ENGLAND I should have no complaints, like you said. And I also wanna thank you for reminding me to pack a skirt. They are hosting a party tonight for Mr. Dursley's work, and if didn't pack one, I'd be shopping with him and Dudley right now. Can you imagine the horror? Well I hear my name being called. I'll talk to you later! -Lins  
  
The voice Lindsey heard was Petunia asking her which platter she preferred, so Lindsey turned off the computer and went downstairs to help Petunia. -----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
"Ahh, I am still three inches short!" cried a distressed Ron looking at his own History of Magic Essay. He threw the essay on the ground and flopped on his bed. But just as he was taking out his Chudley Cannons book to read for the millionth time, he heard a loud thud coming from outside. He jumped up, ran to the window, threw it open, and stuck out his head. It was Fred and George, causing mayhem as usual. Fred was rubbing his arm, having apparently slammed into the side of the house, while George was is hot pursuit of a gray blur, which Ron soon recognized as Pig. Fred had apparently recovered from his injury because he was now chasing after Pig as well.  
  
"What are you doing to my owl???" Ron yelled. They ignored him, and somehow managed to trap Pig against a tree. George grabbed the owl and the twins flew up to Ron's window.  
  
"We were only having a bit of fun," said George.  
  
"And mum's been bugging us to get outside. Too much trouble gets caused when we're in I reckon," joked Fred  
  
"Plus we needed Quidditch practice and we couldn't find balls," added George. "And when Pig flew in, we figured that he'd be a good snitch."  
  
"Hand him over," demanded Ron. George tossed Pig at Ron, and Ron removed a letter attached to his leg. "Look, you bent the letter!"  
  
"Is it from Harry?"  
  
"Because the girl arrived yesterday."  
  
"And well, we need a report."  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you, but this is Hermione's handwriting," said Ron  
  
"Ohhhh, Herminone you say?" said Fred, looking over at George, who laughed.  
  
"What is so funny?" asked Ron, turning a bit red.  
  
"Nooothing. Enjoy your letter," said George with a wink. And they flew off, laughing at the highly embarrassed Ron. Ron sat down and ripped open the letter.  
  
Dear Ron,   
  
I know I took awhile to respond. My History of Magic essay and potions work took a lot longer than I expected. And I decided not to go to Bulgaria. I've been in contact with Dumbledore and I think I'll be going you-know-where instead with all of you!  
  
I don't see what the big deal is with the exchange student. I mean, she'll be here for two weeks and then she'll be gone. Not to mention the fact that you probably won't even get to meet her. And I've been to America. They're not all perfect, gorgeous super models, despite Weasley belief. Oh and I almost forgot, I'll be at Diagon Alley next Thursday. I need to pick a book for Arithmancy. Try and plan a family trip or something. It would be fun!   
  
-Hermione  
  
P.S. Try and be nicer to Percy, he really isn't that bad.  
  
"Easy for her to say," he said. Then he heard a knock on his door. "Who is it?" he asked. The door opened anyway. "Speak of the devil! I just got a letter from Hermione telling me to be nicer to you."  
  
"Well maybe you should listen to her."  
  
"Or maybe not. What do you want?"  
  
"Dinner. Move it." So Ron walked down stairs to the large table where everyone was seated. Tonight was pizza night, a family favorite. Ron sat between Ginny and Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"He finally arrives!" said Bill, "Now we can eat!" And with that the family dug in. In between slices, Mr. Weasley brought up the exchange student.  
  
"So have you heard from Harry, Ron?"  
  
"Nope, but I'm sure I'll get a letter by tomorrow. Oh and Hermione is going to be in Diagon Alley Thursday, can we plan a trip there that day?"  
  
"Well I guess I am low on some cooking supplies," said Mrs. Weasley.  
  
"And we do need to get some... well nevermind," said Fred.  
  
"What do you need at Diagon Alley?" asked Mrs. Weasley suspiciously, "Does it involve any joke shop items? Because if it does..."  
  
"No mom," said George, "We simply think that a trip to Diagon Alley would be fun. Right Fred?" Fred nodded rapidly.  
  
"Right George."  
  
"Well I for one would think twice about letting them go off alone," said Percy. -----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
(a/n) Reviewers. crazyme89, Fier, Kranberries, Calypzo, SlytherinAngel, DuckSorceress, Allie, yall rock my world!!! 


	7. Chapter 7: The Party

Chapter 7: The Party  
  
"Harry, what are you doing?" cried Lindsey, opening his door. "This little shindig starts in 15 minutes and you're not even dressed."  
  
"Oh, I'm not going," he replied.  
  
"Are you sick?" asked Lindsey, very confused.  
  
"No, the Dursley's prefer to pretend that I don't exist."  
  
"Seriously? Well at least you don't have to get dressed up."  
  
"Yeah, trust me when I say I don't mind staying up here."  
  
"I can't blame you, but I must be off, social duty calls." They smiled weakly at each other.  
  
Lindsey walked downstairs and into the kitchen, where plates upon plates of food were being set up in a buffet.  
  
"Lindsey, that good you're here!" said Petunia. "Can you finish setting this up while I go freshen up?"  
  
"Of course," replied Lindsey. Petunia smiled and rushed upstairs.   
  
Lindsey continued organizing the buffet and was just finishing when the doorbell rang. She heard Dudley and Vernon rush to the door, Dudley opening it and taking coats, and Vernon greeting the guests. Petunia made her way downstairs to greet them as well. Everyone soon made their way into the kitchen and Petunia took Lindsey around, introducing her to everyone.   
  
For the next hour, Lindsey continued meeting people. She met the Richards, the Harris', the Jacobs, the Sherringtons, the Whites, and the Johnsons. She thought she had been introduced to everyone when she saw a short man standing by the living room fire, who she did not know.  
  
"Hello," she said, walking up behind him. "My name is Lindsey, I don't believe we've met." The man jumped and spun around.  
  
"No, we haven't," he said, turning back around. But Lindsey wasn't letting him off that easily.  
  
"What's your name?" He turned back, and looked at her.  
  
After a pause, he responded. "Peter, Peter Pettigrew."  
  
"So are you a friend of the Durselys?" asked Lindsey.  
  
"Indirectly"  
  
"Do you work together?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then how do you know them?"  
  
"A mutual friend, you might say"  
  
"What do you do for work?"  
  
"I am an assistant"  
  
"To who?"  
  
"A very powerful man."  
  
"Does he have a name?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Are you going to tell me?"  
  
"Not unless I have to."  
  
Lindsey sighed, "You know what? As much fun as this is, I'm going to go upstairs for a bit."   
  
And with that she walked off, leaving Pettigrew. He watched her as she made her way to and then up the stairs. His eyes fell on a door at the bottom of the stairs. He walked towards it slowly, making sure that he wasn't being watched. He got to the door and opened it. He looked inside and smiled.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Lindsey knocked on Harry's door.  
  
"Harry, let me in!" The door opened and Harry looked out  
  
"How goes the party?"  
  
"It's fine. And everyone is really nice, well except for this one guy."  
  
"Who was it? One of Vernon's friends I expect."  
  
"Actually no, he wasn't a family friend. So why he came, I'll never know."  
  
"What was his name?"  
  
"It was Peter. Peter something."  
  
"Peter?"  
  
"Yeah, Peter Petting Zoo or something."  
  
"Pettigrew?? Was it Pettigrew?!?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, that's it." Harry went pale and fell back onto the bed. "Harry what's wrong? Do you know him?"  
  
"Yes, I know him." He looked around with fear. "Was there anyone with him?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Where did you see him?"  
  
"Living room." Harry got off the bed and ran to the door. He reached for the handle, but someone opened the door before him.  
  
"Hello Harry." It was Pettigrew. Lindsey jumped behind the bed, hiding herself from Pettigrew.  
  
"What are you doing here Wormtail?"  
  
"I was sent on a little mission." Then, out of his pocket, he pulled out a wooden stick.  
  
"That's my wand!" exclaimed Harry  
  
"You don't say? So that would leave you... unarmed and alone? Well now, isn't that a pity?" He placed the wand back in his pocket and walked towards Harry.  
  
"What are you going to do? Kill me?"  
  
"Oh no, my master would never forgive me if I did that. He hasn't waited so long just to let me be the one to finish you off. We have other plans for you."  
  
While Pettigrew was saying this, Lindsey was searching for something that might help her. She looked under the bed and found a cloak of some sort. She went to move it out of the way, but as she grabbed it, she noticed one thing. She couldn't see the hands holding it. Silently, she covered herself with the cloak and stood up. Pettigrew obviously didn't see her so Lindsey made her way over next to him.   
  
"So unless I GRAB THE WAND, there is no way that I'm getting out of this?" said Harry. Lindsey picked up on the hint.  
  
"Wow Potter, you sure do learn a lot in that school. What are you going to tell me next? That the Crutacius Curse will hurt a bit when I perform it?"  
  
"No actually, I was going to tell you that you need a wand to do magic like that."  
  
"Brilliant Harry, I think yours will do, don't you?" and he reached back into his pocket. But the wand wasn't there. "WHAT??? WHERE"S THE BLOODY WAND??"  
  
"Looking for this?" Lindsey asked. She had removed the cloak and was now standing by Harry, twirling the wand between her fingers. "I believe that this is one party you weren't invited too."  
  
"And if you feel like sticking around a little longer, you'll meet up with some other guests who weren't technically invited either. Like Dumbledore, I do believe he will be dying to catch up with you."  
  
"The Dark Lord will get you Potter. You'll end up just like your parents!"  
  
With that, Pettigrew backed up towards the door and bolted out of it. Lindsey and Harry followed as he ran into Lindsey's room. Pettigrew ran towards the open window and jumped out. Harry an Lindsey got to the window and looked down. Lindsey saw nothing except a rat running down the driveway.  
  
"Send my love to Voldemort." yelled Harry to the practically empty street. He then turned and sprinted back to his room. Lindsey followed, seeing as she was now very confused. When she entered, she saw not only Harry, but also another man with half-moon spectacles and very long white hair.   
  
"Ahh Lindsey, I've been waiting to meet you," said Dumbledore, locking eyes with her.  
  
"Woah, who are you, how do you know my name, and what the hell just happened?" said Lindsey. Dumbledore laughed.  
  
"Impatient? Well have no fear, all will be explained shortly. But first I think you two should have some chocolate."  
  
"Chocolate, the magical cure for anything," said Harry, looking at Dumbledore and smiling. Dumbledore did not look back.   
  
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(a/n) review my people!!! 


	8. Chapter 8: Thats Just Creepy

Chapter 8: That's Just Creepy  
  
Meanwhile, downstairs at the party....  
  
"Petunia, where is that girl?" whispered Vernon  
  
"I saw he talking to someone by the fireplace a bit ago."  
  
"Well where is she now? The Harris' want to ask her about good vacation spots!"  
  
"Calm down, Vern..." She was cut off by the sound of running footsteps upstairs. The people at the party all paused and looked up. The noise stopped and everyone went back to their business.  
  
"What was that?" growled Vernon.  
  
"I bet it was HIM."  
  
"I'll go have a little talk with him." He started to walk off but was intercepted by some of the guests. It took him awhile to shake them off, but he did, and went on a warpath upstairs.  
  
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"So wizards, and witches, they're real???" said Lindsey in disbelief.  
  
"Yes, very real. There are about 20,000 of us in Britain alone."  
  
"In America too?" Said Lindsey  
  
"Of course, Rockford is one of the better Wizarding schools these days. My old friend Nicolas taught potions there for a year."  
  
"Flammel?" Asked Harry  
  
"Yes actually." Said Dumbledore, still keeping his eyes focused on Lindsey. Harry was confused at this but decided that he was just imagining things.   
  
"And you are both wizards?"  
  
"Yup," said Harry.  
  
"And this man, Pettigrew, he was a wizard too?" Asked Lindsey. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but the sound of Vernon coming up the stairs stopped him.  
  
"It's Vernon! Professor, you need to leave."  
  
"Right. Oh and Lindsey, welcome back to our world." With that he vanished. Lindsey sat stunned. Back? Did he mean to England?  
  
The door flew open, causing Lindsey to forget her train of thought entirely. Vernon stood in the door, face purple.  
  
"What was that noise??" He asked. Lindsey and Harry glanced at each other.  
  
"Um, that was me," said Lindsey. "Someone offered me escargot, and I took it, but then I realized that it was snail, so I ran up here to spit it out." Vernon looked suspiciously at her, then over at Harry.  
  
"Why did she come in here?" Vernon asked Harry.  
  
"Um, she wanted to get the taste out of her mouth and I had... um...."  
  
"Altoids! He had the altoids that I brought from home."  
  
"Yeah, thats what they were," said Harry, nodding vigorously. Vernon still looked doubtful, but let it slide.  
  
"No more noise from you," he said, pointing to Harry. "And you," he said pointing to Lindsey. "Come back down, some people want to talk to you. Can't imagine why though."  
  
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"LETTER!" yelled Ron, racing down the stairs. "Letter from Harry!" he cried as he entered the living room where the twins, Ginny, and Mr. Weasley had gathered.  
  
"Excellent, about time he wrote you!"  
  
"Shh George, he's about to read it."  
  
"Shhh yourself Fred"  
  
"Boys!"  
  
"Dad!"  
  
"Shut up! I'm reading it now." Ron cleared his throat.  
  
"Dear Ron and other perspective family members who are probably gathered to read this...."  
  
"He knows us too well," said Ginny.  
  
"Excuse me, I was reading here. Ahem, 'Yes, the girl arrived. Her name is Lindsey and she is very nice. She's quite funny, Fred and George would like her. Currently she's downstairs at the Dursley's party. Stupid business parties. Anyways, I do think Diagon Alley will work out."  
  
"Excellent, when is that?" said George  
  
"Today is Wednesday, so... tomorrow!" said Ginny.  
  
"Wow, I thought it was still Monday," said George  
  
"When does school start again?" said Mr. Weasley. "I think you need to go back."  
  
"Focus!" demanded Ron. "Let's see... he skips a few lines... here we go... Ron, you won't believe this. Wormtail was here. In my house! Dumbldore was here too and he talked to Lindsey. I won't go into details now. Signed Harry."  
  
"That's it??" Said George  
  
"Wormtail? In his house?" Said Mrs. Weasley, who appeared to have been listening from the kitchen. "Arthur, we need to go."  
  
"Very right. Don't get in trouble now kids." and the apparated off.   
  
"Hey now! Harry didn't say what she looked like!" said Fred.  
  
"Or what sort of muggle gadgets she brought!" added Ginny  
  
"Calm down, there is a P.S. ... Fred and George- Not too shabby. Ginny- She has a laptop, which is a type of portable computer. No plugs needed for any of it."  
  
"That's just creepy," said George.  
  
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"What did he mean by back????" The next morning, Lindsey had run into Harry's room when she woke up, desperate for answers.  
  
"I don't know! Maybe you saw something when you were little and had your memory modified."  
  
"You can do that???"  
  
"Well not personally, I think we learn in 6th year."  
  
"English please!"  
  
"It was English!"  
  
"American then!"  
  
"Okay, at Hogwarts, my school, you have years. You start first year when you are 11."  
  
"Ooooo. So you're a fifth year?"  
  
"Yes... Wait a minute."  
  
"What?"  
  
"My wand... take it." He handed it to her. She looked at it. "Well go on, give it a swish." Lindsey swished, but nothing happened.  
  
"I feel so stupid right now."  
  
"Lindsey, you're holding it backwards." Lindsey looked down at the wand, Harry was right.  
  
"Wow, I feel really dumb," she said as she flipped the wand. She swished it again. But this time, something happened. There was a small flash of green light and one of Harry's quills flew off the desk. There was silence as Lindsey and Harry stood staring at the quill that was now on the floor. "What did I just do?" Lindsey asked shakily.  
  
"You just did magic."  
  
"Magic? Like all that wizard stuff?"  
  
"Yeah." There was silence.  
  
"So what does this mean?"  
  
"Well, don't freak out, but I think it means that... well if what just happened is any indicator, and if it wasn't a mistake..."  
  
"Harry, what does it mean?"  
  
"I think you are a witch." Despite the fact that Lindsey herself had been thinking the same thing, she was still shocked to hear someone else confirm her idea.  
  
"A witch?"  
  
"Then it would make sense that Dumbledore said welcome back. It all fits, because your real parents must have been wizards and then the muggles adopted you..."  
  
"Wait, muggle, I've heard that before. What is it?"  
  
"Non magic people."  
  
"Right." Lindsey and Harry heard Petunia yelling from the kitchen that breakfast was ready.  
  
"Hey, just a question. Have you heard of the work "snitch"?"  
  
"Yeah, of course, but how do you know about quidditch balls?" Harry ran to his desk and grabbed a book. Lindsey looked at the page he opened it to. It had a picture of a man on a broom stick, holding a gold ball with wings tight in his fist.  
  
"Wow, remind me to email my friend Jen."  
  
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"So which day do we want to go to London?" asked Petunia to the group of them sitting around the table.  
  
"We could go tomorrow or the day after"  
  
"Well as long as Piers is coming, I don't really care."  
  
"What's tomorrow?" Asked Vernon  
  
"Tomorrow is Thursday," said Lindsey.  
  
"Well then we'll go the day after."  
  
"Oh good," Said Harry, "I was hoping that we'd go Friday." Lindsey looked at him questioningly. He had mentioned that he wanted to meet his friends in London on Thursday, not Friday.  
  
"Why?" asked Vernon, "What is so important about Friday?"  
  
"Nothing," said Harry, "Nothing that would matter to you." With that comment Vernon's face turned purple.  
  
"Thursday. We're going Thursday Marge. I don't trust the boy."  
  
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(a/n)here is the reviewers I have from the end of the last chapter  
  
shdurrani, Silent Angel, Amelia Riddle, Harriet Potter, GlaiveGirl, Dragonfly, Darkangel369, Yumi, Slytherin Punk Chick, Lindzi babe 03', Al, Tw153D f43, Medea, Teresa, Unknown(even to her), and last but not least, ER.  
  
Sorry if I skipped anyone, you still are just as important! 


	9. Chapter 9: London

Chapter 9- London  
  
"Piers!" cried Dudley, "Good to see ya!" Piers had just been dropped off by his parents and was now in the kitchen where Dudley and Harry were eating breakfast.  
  
"Hello mate, it's been awhile." He looked over to Harry. "I see HE still lives here."  
  
"Not by choice of course," said Dudley, who started laughing with Piers.   
  
"Of course not by choice," Harry mumbled.   
  
"What was that Harry?" said Piers.   
  
"Nothing." Just at that moment, Lindsey came down in an early morning daze and still in her pajamas. "Lindsey, you know that we are leaving in fifteen minutes, right?" asked Harry  
  
"Yeah, mmm hmm, right," she said sleepily. She sat down next to Harry and reached for a slice of bacon. "Fifty minutes is more than enough time."  
  
"He said FIFTEEN genius," said Dudley, rolling his eyes.  
  
"WHAT?" She screamed. "Why wasn't I woken up? And who are you?" she said, looking at Piers. Piers walked over sauvly, and held out his hand.   
  
"My name is Piers, enchante madamoiselle." Lindsey reached to shake his hand and he grabbed the hand and kissed it.   
  
"Um, right," said Lindsey, pulling her hand away, "I'm just gonna go get ready now." She ran off with a questioning glace at Harry, who was bitting his lip to keep from laughing. Dudley however looked very angry.   
  
"What was that?" he demanded.  
  
"Well she was particurally cute."  
  
"Augh, never say that again," groaned Dudley, cringing. "It makes me sick."  
  
"You're just jealous! Because I actually might have a chance with her! I know you saw that chemistry!" It was too much for Harry, he burst into a fit of laughter. Piers noticed and glared at him.   
  
"As amusing as this is, I'm going to finish getting ready too," Harry said. He walked upstairs laughing, leaving Dudley and Piers to their conversation. He went to his room, shut the door, and retreived his magic things from the loose floorboard. He grabbed his bag of galleons, knuts, and sickles. It seemed to be enough. He also got his wand and stuck it, along with his money, in his pocket.   
  
Meanwhile, Lindsey was rushing around her room trying to find something to wear. It also didn't help that her wet hair was leaving little speckles of moisture on all of her shirts. She finally managed to pick something to wear and had her hair done, makeup on, and bag of stuff ready. She ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She saw that Harry had beaten her there.   
  
"Hey there, mind if i grab my toothbrush?"  
  
"Naw ah awll," he said, with a mouthfull of toothpaste. Harry finished his dental procedings before Lindsey did.  
  
"Man you should have stayed, Dudley just about threw up because Piers thinks he has a chance with you." Lindsey nearly choked on her toothpaste and ended up spitting it out into the sink   
  
"Please tell me you're joking."  
  
"Nope, it was classic. Piers got all defensive and Dudley was freaking out."  
  
"Oh no, can I hide from him for the rest of the day?"  
  
"Probably not. Piers has this knack for finding people who are hiding from him," Harry said, thinking about their days at school together.  
  
"Isn't there some sort of hiding spell?  
  
"Well yes, but we're underage, no magic allowed."  
  
"Well I don't technically count."   
  
"Don't take chances, the ministry isn't too happy with me these days."  
  
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Squeezing into the Dursely car was not easy. Dudley and Piers were not small people and Lindsey and Harry were there too. Harry sat by one window with Lindsey next to him. Then came Piers, who refused to sit anywhere that wasn't by Lindsey, and finally Dudley. The only one who seemed happy about the tight fit was Piers.   
  
"Well now Lindsey, aren't we in here tight."  
  
"Yeah," she said, trying her best to move away from him. "Real tight."  
  
"Kinda like sardines," observed Harry  
  
"This is truly magical," said Lindsey, unaware of the effects that one word could cause. Vernon coughed and glared at Harry through the rearview mirror. Dudley turned white and Harry sat looking as innocent as possible. The car ride passed with Piers talking, Dudley occasionally rolling his eyes, Harry trying not to laugh, Lindsey pretending to care about Piers babble, Vernon occasionally glaring back at Harry, and Petunia trying to figure out what Piers was up to.  
  
Finally, London came into sight.   
  
"Well there it is," said Petunia, "London." Lindsey squealed with excitement and clambored over Harry to get a better view.   
  
"This is so cool!"   
  
"Well Lindsey, I'm quite an expert on London, I visit once or twice every month."  
  
"That's great," said Lindsey. Before long, Lindsey found herself outside Buckingham Palace. She even managed to ditch Piers and the Durselys in the crowd. That left her and Harry standing on a patch of grass outside the palace gates  
  
"Do you think I could sneek in to see William and Harry?"   
  
"Probably not," said Harry, "See all those people guarding the entrance?"   
  
"Oh I could take them, just hook me up with a spell," said Lindsey, a little too loudly. A few people turned and looked at them.   
  
"Lindsey!" Whispered Harry, a little angry. "Lets try to be at least a LITTLE subtle."  
  
"Sorry."   
  
"THERE you are!" cried Piers, running over to Lindsey with Dudley trailing behind, eating an ice cream. Piers hooked his arm around Lindsey and dragged her over closer to the palace gates.   
  
"You know that the guards will be changing soon."  
  
"Thats great," she replied, looking back at Harry and Dudley pleadingly. Harry shrugged and Dudley just kept eating.  
  
After Buckingham Palace, they visited Westminster Abbey and other sites in the area. Then they realized that they were long overdue for lunch.   
  
"Well there is McDonalds or Mimi's Italian Bistro," said Marge, looking up and down the street they were on.  
  
"McDonald's," said Dudley and Piers together.  
  
"What about that pub over there?" said Lindsey.  
  
"What pub?" asked Dudley, glancing around.   
  
"The right there." She pointed to a small rundown place by a large CD store. Dudley looked in that direction but clearly saw nothing. Harry meanwhile, had seen the pub as well, but decided that it would be best if he didn't say anything.   
  
"Oh you've been in the sun too long. You're seeing things," said Piers fondly.  
  
"No I'm not, it's right there, the Leaky Cauldron," Lindsey said, feeling frustrated.   
  
"Ahhh! That's enough!" Bellowed Vernon, "I want Italian."  
  
"But I want McDonald's!" Whined Dudley  
  
"Fine, Marge and I will go to Mimi's, Dudley and Piers can go to McDonald's, and Lindsey can go to her made up restaurant with him," Vernon decided, with a glare at Harry and Lindsey."   
  
"Fine," they all said in unison, although Piers looked rather sad at being separated from Lindsey.  
  
"Meet back in an hour and a half," said Marge. They all wandered off in their own directions.  
  
"Harry, tell me that I'm not seeing things and that you can see this pub too."  
  
"Yeah, I see it," replied Harry, amazed at how easy it was to get away from the Dursley's.  
  
"Are the Dursley's blind? Honestly!" said Lindsey, "But I'm so excited! I've always wanted to eat at an English pub!"  
  
"Yeah, let me tell you, they're magical!" Said Harry with a smile as he looked up at the Leaky Cauldron sign and pushed open the door  
  
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(a/n) REVIEW!!! and thanks to the following who have been super reviewers (plus y'all get responses from now on)...  
  
Lindzi babe'03- Glad to know you love it!  
  
NiteQueen- I thought my petting-zoo thing was rather clever (lol)  
  
Fier- sickling!  
  
iamhermione19- Of course i'll keep writing!  
  
Twisted-fate- Way to be with the non-updating  
  
shdurrani- well as long as JK rowling doesn't play a trick on us and make harry and voldemort related, there is no real lindsey/harry relation  
  
Jenn- actual feedback rocks! you're great. mad props for picking up on that muggles-can't-see-leaky-cauldron thing  
  
GlaiveGirl- well harry doens't know yet.. so we'll just wait and see 


	10. Chapter 10: The Leaky Cauldron

Chapter 10- The Leaky Cauldron  
  
Peter Pettigrew sat in a chair in a small, dully lit room waiting. He wept silently and shook with fear. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of his chair.  
  
"Didn't I tell you not to get caught?"  
  
Pettigrew crawled off the chair and onto the floor in front of his master. "Welcome back my lord," he muttered  
  
"Tell me what went wrong!" He growled "I had the perfect plan for you to capture Potter, yet he isn't here, is he?"  
  
Pettigrew didn't reply, so Voldemort pulled out his wand. He pointed it down at Pettigrew.  
  
"I really would try and come up with a good excuse, unless of course you don't mind losing another finger."  
  
"Sorry my lord," said Pettigrew, wiping his eyes and composing himself. "It all went according to plan. Except for this girl."  
  
"Who was this girl?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Well how did she foil my plans?"  
  
"I had the wand, but she stole it. I was unarmed, so I fled."  
  
"Once again, you've failed me."  
  
"I'm so sorry my lord," replied Pettigrew, resuming his weeping.  
  
"You know what I do to those who fail me."  
  
"Please my lord, no!" he wimpered  
  
Voldemort pulled out his wand. "CRUCIO!"  
  
There was a flash of light and Pettigrew screamed. The torture continued for another few minutes and then Voldemort lowered the wand.  
  
"Never fail me again Wormtail."  
  
"Yes my lord." Pettigrew said between sobs.  
  
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a pressing appointment in Bristol."  
  
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As soon as Lindsey walked into the Leaky Cauldron, she knew that it was no ordinary English pub.   
  
"Harry, are these wizards?" He smiled  
  
"Welcome to the Leaky Cauldron. World famous this place is."  
  
"Seriously?"  
  
"Yes. Well at least among wizards. Muggles can't even see it."  
  
"So that explains why everyone thought I was seeing things!"  
  
"Yeah, are you thirsty?"  
  
"Oh yeah, very."  
  
"TOM!" Harry called. The bartender walked over with a big smile on his face.   
  
"Harry! Good to see ya mate! What'll you and your friend be havin?"  
  
"Do you have any butterbeer?" asked Harry anxiously.  
  
"Of course! And what for you miss?" he asked Lindsey.  
  
"Is there water?"  
  
"Of course, I'll have those out in a moment." Tom walked off. Lindsey watched him and then she noticed that some of the other bar patrons were looking at their table and whispering.   
  
"Harry, why are all these people looking at us?"  
  
"Um, they know me."  
  
"How do they know you?"   
  
"Long story."  
  
"We have time."  
  
"Well do you see my scar?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"Okay, well once there was this really really bad wizard. So bad that most wizards don't even say his name."  
  
"Do you know it?" Harry nodded. "Tell me!"  
  
"Okay, his name was Voldemort," whispered Harry.  
  
"Voldemort?" Lindsey repeated, a little loudly. Several people jumped, and one even let out a little shriek. "Sorry," Lindsey whispered.   
  
"See what I mean? People are still scared?" At the moment, Tom came back with the drinks.   
  
"Harry, I don't know if you keep up with the wizarding news, but you really shouldn't say that name, now especially."  
  
"Why now especially?"  
  
"Bad things, two deaths in the past week. Though the Ministry is still denying that there were Dark Marks involved."  
  
"Two?" Gasped Harry.   
  
"Yes, the Daily Prophet is over there if you would like to read about it."  
  
"Thanks Tom," said Harry. Tom wandered back off to help other customers. Then Harry got up, grabbed a paper, and brought it back over. He read the story out loud.  
  
"Second Wizard Dies this Week  
  
A second person, 26 year-old Jeremiah Yeats, was found dead this week in Bristol.  
  
'I urge everyone to stay calm,' said Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. 'There is no proof saying that the two murders this week are related.'  
  
Yeats, a Bristol Books employee, seems to have been killed by the Unforgivable Avada Kedarva curse"  
  
Harry stopped reading. He looked at the picture. Ministry workers were running around trying to figure out what had happened. Then he saw the body being carried out of the house. A woman carrying a little boy followed the body, weeping. Harry felt a stab of jealously. That little boy at least still had his mother. Harry wasn't so lucky.   
  
Lindsey meahwhile just sat there. She knew that she should be feeling bad for this person, but all she could think about was this Voldemort. Somehow, the name was familiar to her. Like she had known him as a little girl or something. But that was ridiculous, how would she know a feared murderer? She dismissed the thought.  
  
"Harry, where were you supposed to meet your friends?"  
  
"Oi! I almost forgot about them. We didn't actually pick an exact spot." He looked around, saw Tom, and called him over.  
  
"Yes Harry?"  
  
"Have you seen any of the Weasley's around here today?"  
  
"Why yes, one of the younger ones was in here right before you came. But he went back to Diagon Alley."  
  
"Brilliant, thanks Tom"  
  
"Any time."   
  
Harry stood up and Lindsey followed as he walked out the back doors. Lindsey found herself in a small brick enclosure with only a trashcan as decoration. Harry whipped out his wand and started tapping bricks. He tapped what appeared to be the last one and stood back. Suddenly, the bricks began rearranging themselves and moved until they became a archway. Lindsey gaped at the scene before her. Harry also was looking very exciting.   
  
"Where are we?" Asked Lindsey.  
  
"Diagon Alley. Wizard place."  
  
"Excellent."  
  
"Yeah, here, Freida's Fried Foods. We can eat here at wait for my friends." They sat down at an outside table and ordered food.   
  
"I'm going to go wash my hands, I'll be back." Lindsey walked off and found the bathroom. She walked in and immediatley heard noises from the lone stall in the cramped bathroom. There appeared to be two people having a bit of fun in there. Since they clearly hadn't noticed Lindsey, Lindsey decided to just wash her hands and ignore them.   
  
"Ron, don't you think we should go find him?"  
  
"He can wait." Lindsey mentally groaned as the giggling continued.   
  
Lindsey was just drying her hands when the door of the stall flew open and smacked her into the sink.  
  
"OUCH!!!" She cried. The two people from the bathroom looked a little guilty but only muttered sorry.  
  
"Well next time take your little love fest somewhere else!!"  
  
"Geez calm down," said the red-headed boy. The other girl, with bushy brown hair, nodded her hair towards the door and they ran off.   
  
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(a/n) REVIEW!!! I love you all and will do personals next chappie. 


	11. Chapter 11: Diagon Alley

Chapter 11: Diagon Alley  
  
Lindsey scowled and looked into the mirror, surveying the large bruise now forming on her stomach.  
  
"Great," she mumbled, glaring at the stall where the two people had been. She took one last glance at her bruise and then made her way back out to the table.   
  
As she approached, she noticed that two more people had joined Harry. As she came even closer she just about fell over in shock as she realized that the two people talking to Harry were the two people who had been in the bathroom.   
  
"Lindsey!" cried Harry, "Took you long enough. These are my friends, Ron and Hermione." Lindsey sat down in her seat, as Ron and Hermione watched open mouthed in horror. Harry noticed the awkward silence that followed his introduction, and looked around the table.  
  
"Did I miss something?" he asked. "Do you know each other?"  
  
"Yes!" blurted out Lindsey angrily. Ron and Hermione cringed, looked at each other, and then back at Lindsey, fearing what she might say next. Lindsey saw their looks, and suddenly had a revelation. Harry didn't know!   
  
"Well, how do you know them?" asked a quite puzzled Harry.  
  
"Um, well, it's like I know them," said Lindsey, looking at Hermione as if to tell them to play along. "After all I've heard, you know."  
  
"Yeah," said Hermione, nodding feverishly. "Like we've known each other forever."   
  
"In fact," said Lindsey, standing up. "Hermione and I need to take a trip to take a girl trip to the bathroom to commemorate our new friendship."  
  
"Of course," said Hermione, also standing. "Right now."   
  
They wandered off leaving Harry confused and Ron deathly pale.  
  
"Do you understand it mate?" Asked Harry.  
  
"Not at all," said Ron weakly. "Girls aren't meant to be understood."  
  
-------------------------------------------  
  
"How can you not tell him?" asked Lindsey.  
  
"Well we were going to eventually," replied Hermione, pacing nervously though the tiny stall.   
  
"When he caught you?"  
  
"Well that's ridiculous"  
  
"I'm going to tell him." Hermione stopped dead in her tracks.  
  
"You wouldn't!"   
  
"He deserves to know!"   
  
"You are not," said Hermione, whipping out her wand and pointing it directly at Lindsey, "telling him."  
  
Lindsey looked at the wand inches from her face and scoffed.   
  
"Put the wand down. We both know that you'll get expelled if you do magic."  
  
"You won't tell him," said Hermione, not moving the wand.  
  
"Don't be stupid."  
  
"I'm not joking, you can't tell Harry."  
  
"Is it really that important to you?"   
  
"Yes, it really is."  
  
"Fine, I won't tell him." Lindsey pushed the wand away, "But you should."   
  
Then Hermione did something that completely surprised Lindsey. She burst into tears.   
  
"Oh you're right! He does deserve to know." She bawled. "But it's just so hard! And he's been through so much, just with you-know-who and all! There's so much we've had to keep from him this summer and it's so hard!"  
  
Lindsey walked over and awkwardly put an arm around Hermione's shoulder.   
  
"Hey, calm down. I'm sure it will all work out."  
  
"I hope so," she sniffled, "We should go back out, they'll worry."  
  
"Or at least Ron will," mmirked Lindsey. "So are we cool now?"  
  
"I think so," said Hermione smiling, "I need a girl I can talk to. Ginny is great, but there are some things I just can't tell her."  
  
"Well I'm your man. Well, not man, but you know."  
  
Lindsey and Hermione made their way back out to the table and sat down. They were in a circle and Lindsey was directly across from Ron. She met his eyes quickly and smiled. He appeared to understand that everything was okay, because the color began coming back to his face.   
  
"What is with girls and bathrooms?" asked Harry.  
  
"It's a bonding place," said Lindsey, looking over at Hermione and laughing.   
  
Then a waitress, who appeared around the same age as the four of them, came up to them and took orders. When she reached Harry she squealed.  
  
"Harry Potter? Oh my gosh, it's such an honor! I've always wanted to meet you," she said very quickly. Harry smiled kindly back, but didn't say anything. Lindsey however was not going to remain silent.  
  
"Oh my gosh, how about you take his order and stop staring?" mocked Lindsey. The waitress turned red and asked Harry what he wanted. Ron and Lindsey sat in silent laughter while Hermione seemed torn between amusement and anger. Harry on the other hand was just plain mad.  
  
"Was that really necessary??" He hissed after the waitress had stomped off.  
  
"Honestly Harry, do you really put up with that?"  
  
"You don't have to bring her to tears."  
  
"She wasn't crying," said Lindsey, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Maybe you should try being more considerate," replied Harry.  
  
"Oi, it's Fred and George," said Ron, calling to his brothers. They ran over looking excited.   
  
"You won't believe the new Dr. Filibuster Fireworks that just came out," said Fred pulling up a chair between Ron and Harry.  
  
"Last two times longer that the old ones," said George, pulling up on the other side of Harry, next to Lindsey as well. "More expensive of course."  
  
"But we've managed," stated Fred happily, winking at Harry.  
  
"Oh, you must be Lindsey," said George, noticing that she was right next to him.  
  
"Yeah, and you must be Ron's brothers."  
  
"That's us."  
  
"Care for a toffee?" asked Fred.  
  
"Don't do it, that's a canary crème," said Ron. Fred and George glared at him.  
  
"Just thought we'd welcome her in true Weasly style," said Fred jokingly. The waitress then came back with plates of food, glaring at Lindsey as she served her.  
  
"Oh thanks hun!" cried Lindsey after the waitress when she left. Harry glared at her. Why was she being so rude?  
  
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After eating quickly and paying for the food, the group set off down the road. At the request of Ron, they first stopped in Quality Qudditch Supplies.  
  
In the store, Lindsey stood open-mouthed watching a poster of the Irish National Team performing all their best moves, while Ron stood at her side, explaining what was happening. Hermione had found her way to the Quidditch book section and was reading intently. Harry had joined her, feeling a little frustrated with Lindsey's rudeness to the waitress. It was because of this that when Lindsey came over a few minutes later with a proposition, he wasn't exactly friendly.  
  
"Hey Harry, can you do me a huge favor?"  
  
"What do you want?" he asked grumpily. Lindsey chose to ignore this and continued on as pleasant as ever.   
  
"Okay, so there is this really cool poster and I really want to buy it, and I have money, but its pounds, not galleons or whatever."  
  
She looked at Harry expectantly, but he just raised an eyebrow.  
  
"That involves me how?" snapped Harry. Lindsey didn't miss his anger this time.  
  
"Silly me, of course you wouldn't get it!" she exclaimed furiously. "You're too caught up in yourself to understand the troubles of other people."  
  
"You have NO idea what I go through everyday. No idea!" He said in a whisper, glaring at Lindsey.  
  
"Well clearly not, seeing as I'm not as famous as you seem to think you are," said Lindsey, glaring back.   
  
"You really don't know anything about this world, do you?"  
  
"Nope, and if the people think YOU are a hero, I don't want to learn much more."  
  
"Fine, then leave! We don't want you!!"   
  
Harry and Lindsey's fight had been steadily growing louder and people were beginning to stare at them. Hermione and Ron stood near them anxiously and when Lindsey screamed "Fine!!!" and burst out of the shop, they dragged him into a back corner to calm him down.   
  
Lindsey meanwhile had run into the street and was now heading off down the street furiously. She didn't know where she was going, but by the time she had calmed down furiously and looked around, she knew that she had wandered into an entirely different part of Diagon Alley. She looked into the nearest store window and saw a sight that nearly stopped her heart. Spiders. Giant spiders displayed in a window as if they were puppies in a pet store. Lindsey backed away quickly, and collided with something.  
  
"AHH!" She shrieked, having been severely startled. She spun around and realized that she had run into a middle-aged man with greasy black hair and a hooked nose.   
  
"Watch it!" He exclaimed, glaring at her. Then his expression changed. He looked compassionate for a moment so brief that Lindsey was soon sure that she had imagined it. "Turn left and keep walking till you are out of Knockturn Alley," he said in a low voice. Lindsey nodded, and he spun around and began walking away.  
  
"Thanks," she muttered after the man's retreating figure. She turned immediately and began walking in the direction he had specified. She soon found her way back and soon spotted Ron and Hermione, looking around frantically. They saw her and ran towards her.  
  
"Lindsey! There you are!" gasped Hermione. "Where were you?"  
  
"We thought you had taken Harry seriously and left!" said an exasperated Ron.   
  
"Of course I wasn't going to leave. Not that he would have cared if I did."  
  
"Honestly, of course he would care," said Hermione.  
  
"He's just been under a lot of stress lately."  
  
"That's no excuse for being a complete jerk," pointed out Lindsey.  
  
"I know, but just let this one go," pleaded Ron.   
  
"Fine. But he better not pull that on me again," said Lindsey.   
  
"He won't, now let's go inside Flourish and Blotts, he's waiting for us," said Hermione. They walked into the store, and once again Lindsey just looked around gaping. The walls were lined with books of every type. A group of younger kids were flocking around talking about a new comic book, a pair of motherly witches were looking at cookbooks and over by some spell books was Harry, clutching what appeared to be a tube. He saw them enter and walked to meet them.  
  
"Lindsey, I, well, um, I wanted to apologize."  
  
"Hey, don't worry about it. I shouldn't have made fun of the waitress." He smiled.   
  
"Yeah, well, still, I got you something to apologize." He handed tube into Lindsey's hand and she opened it. Inside was the Irish National Squad poster. Lindsey squealed and threw her arms around his neck.   
  
"Thank you!"  
  
"Yeah, well, I try"  
  
"Well now Potter, isn't this touching?" They all spun around and saw a blonde haired boy sneering down from a stairway.  
  
"Get out Malfoy."  
  
"No I don't think I will."  
  
"One word Malfoy... Ferret," said Ron simply. Malfoy turned pale for a second but then recovered.   
  
"Funny, I thought you were the animal, Weasel," said Malfoy with a sneer. Ron glared at him. "Ohh, poor baby, you're not going to cry, are you?" Lindsey snorted and smiled, remembering making similar comments to Dudley in the past week. However the second she did it, she knew that she had made a mistake. Hermione stared at her, eyes wide. Ron looked angry, but his anger was nothing compared to Harry's. Harry looked absolutely furious.   
  
"Well well Potter," said Malfoy, noticing Lindsey for the first time. "You actually found someone with a sense of humor." He winked at Lindsey and strutted out the front door and back out to Diagon Alley.   
  
"WHAT WAS THAT???" cried Harry.  
  
"Sorry!!" replied Lindsey. "I just remembered saying that to Dudley and so I laughed. I wasn't trying to encourage him!"  
  
"Well you could have fooled us!" said Ron.  
  
"And he winked at you!!!" said Hermione, shuttering.   
  
"Wow, I'm sorry, but I didn't think it would be that big a deal."  
  
But it did end up being a big deal. The time finally came for Harry and Lindsey to head back to the muggle world. Ron and Hermione parted on good terms with Harry, but with Lindsey, they said very little.  
  
After meeting back up with the Dursleys, Lindsey had to hide her poster and was immediately abducted by Piers who made a point to guide her around everywhere.   
  
"And that over there is the London Eye," droned Piers. Lindsey scowled and glanced over at Harry, who also happened to be looking at her. Their eyes met, but then they both turned away, neither willing to admit that they were wrong. 


	12. Chapter 12: How It Has To Be

Chapter 12- How It Has To Be  
  
Harry and Lindsey were completely miserable. Harry had spent the rest of the day in silence and Lindsey had spent it listening to Piers drone on. When they got home that night, Lindsey immediately ran up to her room. She threw herself on her bed and opened up her poster. She watched as the players flew back and forth, wishing that she could have a chance to try playing someday.   
  
Meanwhile, Harry had silently returned to his room. He had pulled out his photo album with the pictures of his parents. He smiled sadly, imagining what it would be like growing up with them instead of the Dursleys. He gradually felt his eyes growing heavy, and fell asleep, causing his album to fall to the floor.   
  
Lindsey was just returning from a kitchen run with a soda in her hand when she heard the crash. She immediately jumped up to go investigate. However she paused at Harry's door, unsure as to whether or not her presence would be welcome. Then she realized that Harry could be in trouble, so she proceeded into the room.   
  
When she arrived, she was relieved to see that Harry was okay. She watched him sleeping, feeling terrible about the way the day had gone. She then noticed the photo album lying next to his bed and tiptoed over to pick it up. When she opened it up, the first picture she saw was the one of Harry's parents at their wedding. She sat down against the bed and took a closer look. Everyone looked so happy, almost as if they were laughing. In fact... they were laughing!! Lindsey jumped at first, but then remembered that all wizarding pictures moved. She looked at each individual face in the picture, and on in particular caught her eye. It was a short woman, dressed all in green robes, with long black hair, standing near the back of the picture, cutting and serving the wedding cake with flicks of her wand. Then, for a brief moment, she looked up at Lindsey and their eyes met. Their identical green eyes.   
  
"What are you doing?"   
  
Lindsey jumped. Harry was leaning over the end of the bed, looking down at her. And it wasn't a happy look.   
  
"I was just looking," she replied defensively.  
  
"Well I don't want you to," he snapped. "Give it here."  
  
"No!" said Lindsey, getting angry. "I want to look at it!"  
  
"Well that's too bad," said Harry, grabbing hold of the book. They both pulled on it, trying to make the other lose their grip. "LET GO!" shouted Harry.  
  
"Fine!" shouted Lindsey back, and let go she did. However, the loss of tension from one side caused the book to go flying across the room. It fell to the ground with a large crash and splash. Yes splash... it had fell into Lindsey's soda. Harry watched speechlessly as the soda spilled across the pages of his beloved book. Lindsey was also turning pale.  
  
"My book..." said Harry, rushing towards it. As he picked up the sopping mess, he bit back tears. Then, suddenly, his grief turned into rage. "Look what you did!"  
  
"I didn't mean to!" stammered Lindsey  
  
"Well you did! It's ruined! Do you have any clue what this book was of?"  
  
"No."  
  
"My parents, Lindsey. And its not like there are any more of these, because they're dead."   
  
"I'm sorry! It was an accident."   
  
"No, I'm through with you acting like no one matters but you. There are these things called feelings that people have, but you don't seem to have them. Get out."  
  
Lindsey didn't move; she was watching the lone tear trickle down Harry's cheek.   
  
"I said go!!!" He screamed.  
  
"Fine!" yelled Lindsey back. "Screw being nice to you! Next time I'll just leave you for Pettigrew to kill! And trust me when I say that I won't miss you!" With that, she stormed out of the room.   
  
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An hour later, Lindsey was on her bed in her room crying. She had tried writing to Jen to calm herself down, but it wasn't successful. So she just sat their thinking and eventually tears came.  
  
"Well, I must say, that was quite some argument that you two just got in." Lindsey wiped her eyes and looked up. It was Dumbledore.  
  
"What are you doing here?" she asked, sniffling.   
  
"Oh my dear," he said, flicking his wand and making a box of tissues appear next to Lindsey. "I know today has been eventful, but there is more you must hear."  
  
"What else is there to know?" she sighed. "I want to go home."  
  
"Well the chances of that now are slim to none."  
  
"What?" Lindsey cried, startled. "What do you mean slim to none?" I have a few days left here and then I fly back to America."  
  
"No Lindsey, you don't," Dumbldore said. He cleared his throat and adjusted his spectacles. "Do you remember today, when Harry mentioned Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes, but, you said his name!"   
  
"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."  
  
"But what does this have to do with me?"  
  
From there, Dumbledore told the story as he had told the Hogwarts staff, except for the part about Katrina's death. When he finished, Lindsey sat silent for a moment. She knew why he was telling her this, but she didn't want it to be true.   
  
"I'm her daughter, aren't I?" she whispered.   
  
"Yes Lindsey," he said, with a sad look in his eye. "That is why you cannot go back. Pettigrew saw you here. It is only a matter of time before Voldemort comes here to find you. And from here, finding you in America would be too easy."  
  
"Well then where do you bloody propose I go?"  
  
"I know a place where you will be safe for the rest of the summer. Then you will come to Hogwarts."  
  
"I will?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"But, he'll be looking for me there too!"  
  
"Yes, he will. He will be looking for you everywhere."  
  
"Oh, this is great," said Lindsey, near to tears.  
  
"But we can protect you at Hogwarts better that anywhere else."  
  
He smiled softly at Lindsey.   
  
"There is no other way."  
  
Lindsey shut her eyes and took a deep breath.  
  
"What do I have to do?"  
  
"I will contact you before your two weeks are up. Try not to stray too far from this house without Harry."  
  
"No, I refuse to go anywhere with him."  
  
"Well you don't have a choice," he said. "Alas, I must be off. Promise me you'll stay by Harry."  
  
"I promise," Lindsey said. Dumbledore smiled at her once more and vanished from the room, leaving Lindsey to herself.   
  
Feeling helpless, Lindsey crawled under the covers of her bed, wishing she as back at home. For the first time of the entire trip, Lindsey wished that she hadn't done the exchange. She would rather have never known about wizards, her real family, and Harry and all his friends. Now she was stuck with a horrible guilt. It was her own flesh and blood that people feared throughout the wizarding world. However despite that, she realized, as she feel asleep, there was still part of her that wanted to meet him. Voldemort. Her grandfather.   
  
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(a/n) okay guys, people, as far as reviews go... 


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